38 ~— Sunday, November 7, 1999 ~ North Shore News

Regiments of cre

David Wishart
Contributing Writer

VERDUN: Come summer, the holiday traffic

north shore news

ea TRAVEL

Evocative memorials mark

. speeds down the auitoroute east of
Paris heading for the delights of Burgundy and
Riviera sunshine.
“Nota few op at Reims, champagne capital of France and
and ‘dr
rgized Europe, it is easy to forger shat there was ever any-

"Yer not far away are graveyards from the First World War

k te ‘good health and happiness. In today’s

First World War battlegroun

thousand. It was = ghastly, brutal, wasteful conflict, said after-
wards to be the war to end all wars. -

The lament by an unknown French mother at Verdun says
it all: “To my son, since your eyes have closed mine have

- never ceased to sry.”

If the war of 1914-18 was the most horrific of modern
times, Verdun is the battle that has come to symbolize the

where young men barely out of school are buried by the

unimaginable slaughter in rat-infested, sodden trenches as

ypical Belize beckons adventurers

& Global Adventures slide show on
” Belize at the Delbsonk Community
Centre —~ Tuesdays Nov 9, 1999,

vp.m. in the Oak Koom.” ;

BELIZE: The scenic and tropi-
cal paradise is a place not to be

‘Situated south of Mexico and east of
Guatemala, is is 9 try, unparalleled
in natural- beauty With’ ‘its :rich- aninial
and ‘plant. life, uns
coastline, lush rain forest, crystal clear
tropical waters, coral reefs and amazing-
ly friendly people. 5)

Belize is a country overflowing with
tich human history. The Maya, who
ruled. the land up until the 12th

in these exotic Southeast +
way towards feasting on satay,

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Lentury, built an outstanding archaeo-
logical heritage and many of their citics
and temples are only now being uncov-
ered,

Over the years, many have laid claim

“to this beautiful country. This fascinat-
‘ing cultural mosaic of people includes
Mayans,

t Creoles, Garifuna, . Latin
Americans, Chinese, East Indians and
Lebanese. All have made distinct coniri-

butions to the Belizean way of life.

Belize’s clear waters contain the sec-
ond longest barrier, reef in the world
which has recentlyJbeen designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Global
Adventures irips allow the traveiler
ample opportunities to discover the
wonders of the reef and come face to
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ur Canadian dollars go a long

ful marine life.

Cayes: Belize is laced with dozens of
smaii islands or “cayes”. Some of the
cayes located on the southern half of
the reef are completely uninhabited and
offer plenty to visitors, including
snorkelling, fishing and diving.

Plasencia: One of the oldest inhabited
villages in Belize. Along its three mile
long beachfront are houses and lodges,
all nestled under palm trees.

Cost: $1,469 Cdn. (from Belize City).
Departures: Sundays. Jan. 16,until April
30, 2000. Global Adventures recomm-
mend that clients arrive a few days early
to acclimatize themselves to the warmer
weather.

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3898 Ke in front of the Verdun memorial. The site of the most horrific battle of modern times became a nightmare for the French and the Germans.

the horror

French and German armies pounded each other into oblivion.

Shells fell like rain, Maxim machine-guns ripped stomachs
to shreds, flame-throwers scorched men alive and as one
German salder wrote after just three months of the horror,
there would be no end to it “until the lase German and the
last Freach hobbled cut of the trenches on crutches to.exter-
minate,each other with pocket knives.” .

Yer the battle went on, ¢or a total of 10 months of the year;
1916, going down in history as the grimmest battle in that
grim war, perhaps in history itself. So said author Alistair
Horne in his epic book The Price of Glory.

See Verdun page 30