Dieppe – Ou le Canada s’est ne

Just to start, here’s what I did to get this blog to you today:

1. In order to upload the photos from Dieppe yesterday, I went to McD’s to try and use their wifi, but it was crazy busy so I ate and left
2. Went to the mall near that with the same goal, but their transfer rate was dismal so I left
3. I went to the place I can usually go to upload; but they were closed
4. Now I’m at yet another Web Cafe, this one is open and working, and I had to buy a memorystick because there’s no wifi.

You’re welcome. 😉

It's pretty here

At any rate, Dieppe was charming. it is still a seaside fishing town that has grown up, and its downtown core is absolutely beautiful. The SNCF Train station is right on the water, and the whole of the dozntown in walkable.

Dieppe is important to Canada for two reasons: fuirstly, it’s where most of our Québecois ancestors came from, or at least shipped out – was the main port to la Nouvelle France in the 1600s; secodnly, it’s where Canadians suffered heavy loss in 1942, in an attempt to liberate France from the Germans. It’s a place where Canadians are welcome, and one can see Maple Leafs all over the place. The Dieppe: Ville d’art et d’histoire office even offers a Canadian tour of Dieppe, but guided and via brochure.

Because I was only there a day, I went to the Tourism Office and rented an audioguide. The longest tour is nearly 3 hours (I took that one, of course) and for5€ you can’t go wrong. I won’t bore you with the details, but here is a selection of the photos I took on the walking tour.

Port of Dieppe

Cathédrale Saint-Jacques

360° panorama of the Port

The Beaches of Dieppe, where Canadian and British forces landed for Operation Jubilee on 19 August 1942

Stained glass windows in Saint-Jacques, in the Canadian chapel

Eglise Saint-Rémy

Le Square du Canada at the foot of the Chateau-Musée

Le Chateau-Musee

I was quite disappointed to find out that museums in France are closed on Tuesdays. Since I was there on a Tuesday… no Chateau-Musee for me.

Dieppe

Dieppe Panorama

The Canadian Cemetery at Dieppe

According to Wikipedia, “A total of 3,623 of the 6,086 men (almost 60%) who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured.” There are nearly 1000 graves at this cemetery.

948 of these graves are of Canadian soldiers

While I was there (and in town), a busload of Canadian kids came by. It was refeshing to hear their surprise at how many soldiers there were buries, and how young they were.

A fallen Canadian

The grave is a ways out of the city, basically in among farmers fields. It’s a quiet resting place for people who died too soon. And it’s not until you see these things and places for yourself that you realise how lucky we are.

Stone Cross at the corner of la rue des Canadiens

Over all, a day well-spent

To see all of my photos from Dieppe, go to my Picasa Photo Album.