For breakfast we have our usual cereal and Claudio brings us a plate full of toast. Johanne gets some marmalade and a little heart-shaped container of Marmite. “Try it,” she tells me. “It looks like Nutella.” I peel the flap back, dip the tip of my knife in the sticky, dark brown paste, and try […]

We’ve had a last minute change of plans, our visit to see my cousin Viv will now take place later in the week. So today we plan to visit the town of Portslade, where my parents and I lived when my father returned from the war and married my mother (probably 1946). My sister Annabelle […]

We set off from Dunkerque using Johanne’s extremely detailed Google directions to get to Calais. Amazingly, they took us out of town and onto the A26 without a bother. A quick stop at a service area to top up the car (the fellow at Avis Dieppe did say gazoil, didn’t he?) and then off to […]

From the pamphlets, it appears the War Museum is located some distance away from where we are located (15 min south of Calais). I was positive there was something nearby in Dunkerque. I look on Google and sure enough, there is the Memorial Du Souvenir museum a 20-minute walk away. I write down directions, ignoring […]

Today we enjoy a more relaxed morning. After breakfast, we checkout and move to the hotel’s piano bar where I finish blogging. While Johanne is busy, I go out to get a local newspaper that covers the weekend events. There’s an interesting photo of our Governor-General in cycling gear preparing to test the local trails. […]

We get back to the hotel, freshen up, race down to the pedestrian mall, and look for the book Raid de Dieppe at the store McPress. Johanne is desperate to have the book because Mathieu said he would autograph it for us. With the clock ticking (remember the bus leaves at 15:15 and it is […]

Another quick breakfast as the buses will leave at 08:30. We aren’t sure if public are included. When we arrive, everyone appears to be in some sort of formal dress. Just in case, we’ve brought our Jubilee Association name tags, but we don’t need them, everyone is welcome. Our first stop is Pourville, where the […]

After a quick breakfast, we head out to the Square du Canada where the main ceremonies are to take place to commemorate the 19 August 1942. It’s 9:30 am and people are already gathering even though the ceremonies don’t begin for almost an hour. After 1.5 hrs of standing, we see activity! The Fusiliers Mont-Royal […]

Seagulls woke us at 9 am. Off to breakfast where we met two nice couples from Winnipeg, one whose father also fought at Dieppe with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. They asked if we knew where the Canadians went after they were captured. Luckily, we had my book with us to explain most […]

The plan is to fly to Paris on Aug 16, arrive around 10 a.m. on Aug 17, take the train from the Charles de Gaulle airport to Paris Gare de Nord, then either another train or metro to the Paris St Lazare train station (where the trains to Normandy leave from). This is supposed to […]