May 8, 1945: "Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at Headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command, and Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German Land, sea, and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command." ~ Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England.
This year, Europe celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, and I had the pleasure of singing in Noirmoutier, France in it's VE Day ceremony. To the French, VE Day is much like the 4th of July to Americans; it is, in a sense, their independence day.
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| Setting up for the "reenactment" in front of and around the Chatêau. |
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| A procession of soldiers, veterans, officials made their way down the streets (presumably from the City Hall) to where the ceremony was held in front of the Chatêau. |
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| We sang our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, and France's, La Marseillais. |
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| A general from Crestview was present as well, and we even got a picture with him! |
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| After the ceremony were the celebrations! We got to see 7 parachuters land right in front of us. This parachute has the Vendée symbol, the province where Noirmoutier is located. |
While Irène was shopping, M. André told us that it was Irène's birthday. He suggested Rebekah and I buy her flowers and sing Happy Birthday to her. We gladly agreed!M. André took us to the market to find flowers. I quickly snapped pictures as I went!
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| A fruit stand. |
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| More fruit and/or veggies. |
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| Many stands had hats, clothes, trinkets, and much more. |
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| The flower stand! |
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| We bought some pretty flowers and wrote her a birthday card in French. We also sang to her Joyeux Anniversaire! |
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| She loved it, giving us big hugs and a kiss on the cheek. She quickly found a vase for the flowers and asked for a picture. |
Next up.... A bike ride around the island!
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