Remembering Vimy Ridge

One moment in Quebec did bring back memories of France, in a totally unexpected way.

A major landmark in the old city is the Citadelle, an old fortress at the high point of the city walls:
It adjoins the Plains of Abraham, the battlefield where the French lost Quebec to the British in 1759, which is now the city's main park:


Although Quebec City has never again faced an invader, the fort is still an active military base, home to a French-speaking Army unit. That unit fought at the most famous of all Canadian battles, Vimy Ridge in 1917 during World War I. It is still commemorated on the grounds:

French Canadians, of course, haven't necessarily felt much loyalty to the British crown or Empire, but in this case, the ability to fight on behalf of fellow Frenchmen seems to have made a difference to them.

(I visited Vimy Ridge when I was in France; it is a profoundly moving place. The French have ceded the grounds to the Canadian government, which operates it as a national park staffed with Canadian students. The ones I encountered all had the classic "eh" accent of English Canada, but maybe that's because I was on an English-language tour.)

Not everything in the Citadelle is depressing, of course. They have a changing-of-the-guard ceremony that includes, of all things, a goat:


It's the regimental mascot, the tenth in a line descended from a goat that Queen Elizabeth gave the unit once upon a time for some reason. The original is kept stuffed in the post museum:


And that's really about all I have to say on the subject.