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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Musée de la Grande Guerre

Patrice is feeling much better and we've resumed our excusions in and around Paris. Yesterday we took a trip backwards in time to WWI. We visited the recently opened Musée de la Grande Guerre (Museum of the Great War) in Meaux, about an hour east of Paris. Here's the entrance to the museum.

The museum presents a multi-sensory experience making ample use of film and sound files. I could imagine life in the trenches with the sounds of boots slogging through the mud against the backdrop of bullets and bombs.
The exhibit featured the usual guns, tanks, and early airplanes but one of the most curious vehicles (for me) was this pigeon-mobile which was used to transport the carrier pigeons vital to communications. Over 100,000 pigeons were deployed during the war with a 95% success rate of getting through to their destination with their message.

Patrice has a personal interest in the war as both of his grandfathers served and survived the war. Here is a photograph of his maternal grandfather, Fernand Laborde:
And his paternal grandfather, René Neger:
Here's the link to the museum for your personal virtual visit.

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