March 31st

Leaving the Toronto Airport, bound for Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

April 1st, Trenton

Eric, Colonels Bludd and Brink, three of the Loyal Eddys.

Drill practice in the rain.

Sometimes, yelling does pay off.

Padre McLean and troops assembling at CFB Trenton Airport.

Mounting the Airbus for Lille.

April 3rd

Slag heaps near Arras. They were there in the First World War, too.

Avion is located between Arras and Lens.

Avion, the location where the remains of Private Peterson, and the comrade who tried to save him, were exhumed in 2003.

April 4th

Trench, Vimy Ridge.

View from a German trench, looking towards a Canadian trench less than ten metres away.

The tunnels where the soldiers would wait, in silence, for days. Listening.

Vestiges of their names and messages remain carved in the chalk walls.

On the grounds of the monument, behind the electrified fences, thrive 3,600 Scotch Pines imported from Canada, one for each Canadian soldier who perished in the four days they fought to take the objective. The pockmarked earth remains a testament to the 1,500 shells that were exchanged, per minute, during the pitch of the battle. Ninety years on, our spring is wrapped in lovely innocence. Inhaling the newborn freshness, you adore the tenderness of the young green, and listen to the sweetness of the birdsong. Then, a sorrowful realization collapses the gentle idyll: for it is a mass grave, the realization of which, is the lowest form of treachery.

Proceeding from the trenches and tunnels, we saw one beer can on the other side of the electrified wire. Unlike the others, it lurked just out of reach.

As she tore the elastic band from her hair to lash two twigs together, "I saw this on Survivior.", Ally handily retrieved the offending beer can.

Major Jackson at the Maple Leaf Cafe, Givenchy. It is the only restaurant within miles of the monument.

How could any Canadian possibly resist? Oh, the canny French.

One of the impeccably groomed Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries. Many of the dead remain, as Kipling wrote, 'Known unto God'.

April 5th

Funeral rehearsal, Captain Gauthier and Colonel Bludd.

MCpl George Duff smiling, doubtless, in eager anticipation of a delicious box lunch.

Kent, now, here's a man who really knows his kilts and sporrans.You can just make out the Vimy monument in the distance.

Liz Newman, one of three medics who selflessly perform the Lord's work, like, giving me moleskin. Seriously, the medics bear with fortitude the evils that man is capable of inflicting on others.

Please do not misconstrue this respite to be pro-smoking propaganda in any way, shape or form.

Mike (signing the guest registry at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery) and Kyle, the DND reporters who commandeered the painting and me. They could be stand-up comedians if they ever get tired of the army thing. "Not likely, Bubs."

Mercure Lille Aeroport Hotel

First inspection of the Distinct Environmental Uniform with white belt.

Although, personally a big fan of the Cad-pats, they do look fetching in their DEUs.

Richard Troute. He, of the wicked, WICKED, sense of humour.