Tuesday, May 08, 2012

WWII Armistice


Today (May 8), is a holiday in France; we celebrate the WWII armistice (the end of the war). There will be a big event on the Champs Elysées for the occasion (to which exceptionally, both the new and the former President will attend). I happened to be on the Champs Elysées yesterday and I came across this sculpture of Charles de Gaulle, by Jean Cardot that I already posted a long time ago and from - another angle. I thought it was pretty timely, as de Gaulle played a large role during WWII.

9 comments:

  1. It is a most striking statue of De Gaulle, Eric. Difficult to miss, and I do like your angle. Those clouds look very ominious. Good that both 'Presidents' can share the podium in this interregnum.

    And yes, it could be said the De Gaulle 'played a large role during WW2' ...

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  2. Fantastic angle! And the clouds are playing a perfect part also. The end of WWII is certainly a great thing to celebrate!

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  3. Beautiful shot, Eric. Peaceful. That's what it's all about.

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  4. my hubby lost 2 uncles in WWII.....one of them in a POW camp in France.....they were 19 and 21 years old, and from the same family.......my dad just turned 90 and he did 3 years in the Pacific Front......may we remember all those whose lives were sacrificed for our freedom......

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  5. Yeah, amen, ditto. I was lucky not to have to go somewhere and get my head shot off like so many others. I have immense respect and sympathy for all of the military. Just because I may or may not think a particular war was justified, it makes no difference to my feelings about those who fought it.

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  6. exatement , Jeff I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  7. Happy Armistice Day! It is a wonderful thing to celebrate -- a war being over. Beautiful silhouette shot and the clouds are so peaceful.

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  8. I had two great Uncles who served in WWII. Also my grandfather who I never met.

    One of my great Uncles, Frank, served as one of General Patton's drivers and also helped free a concentration camp. He showed me photos once, it was horrible. He also showed me his bayonet (sp?). He apparently spent some time in Paris. My mother tells me that he fell in love with a Parisian woman and after he returned home to the states all he could talk about was this woman. My mother told him he should have married her. He agreed. He passed about 10 years ago. I missed out on so many of his stories because I was an ignorant youth at the time. He was 100% Italian, although born and raised in the USA.

    WWII wasn't really all that long ago. The tragedies are unspeakable. I hope all of humanity can learn from it. R.I.P. all who died.

    Valorie

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  9. What a dramatic and heroic photo. I love it. A very nice tribute.

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