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Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

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France In October, 2006 we visited Calais, France while touring the United Kingdom and Ireland. 11 Months later I found myself in Chamonix, at the base of Mt. Blanc, about 565 kilometres* (350 miles) southeast of Calais. The small portions of France that I've seen were very enjoyable although it's clear that European socialism and their open borders policy is dragging the continent down... *The preferred route between Calais and Chamonix is the 900 kilometres (560 miles) of road through Reims, Dijon, and Geneva with a drive time of about 9 hours. All but the last twenty kilometres are on toll motorways. The motorways in France are toll roads called "Autoroutes" where you pay at the "Peage." (My visits were by plane but I hope to bike or dirve between the two someday soon)

Click Here for our trip through England.

Click Here for pix of Wales and Scotland.

Click Here for our overnighter to Ireland...

(Click on any of this page's "thumbnail" images for a larger view...)

Calais:

In the fall of '06 we took a delightful ferry ride over to Calais
from Dover. A little wet that day, in Calais, but well worth the trip!

Ferry to France	Calais	Street crossing	Calais, France	Me at the ATM
Calais park	Poster	Old townhall belfry	Old townhall	Towne Centre Calais, France
Memorial	Roundabout Calais, France	War memorial	Calais casino	Defense Tower circa 1224

Click Here for my maritime page and picture of the Calais lighthouse...

Chamonix:

In September '07 some climbing friends and I
visited Italy, Germany, France and surrounding
areas for a bit of adventure. One of my other
travel pages has more about the trip but here
are a few photos from our time in France:

Police Municipale	Chamonix	Chamonix	Lost	Chamonix
Chamonix	Mont Blanc (4808 metres)	Hang glider (upper left)	Chamonix	Snow machine

France Facts:

France is slightly smaller than Texas and sits between Spain on one side and Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy on the other. At the time of our visit, in 2006, France had a population of 63 million. At 4,807 metres (15,771 ft) Mont Blanc is the highest point in France - nearly 400 metres higher than any place in my home state of Colorado.

After the first and second World Wars France suffered extensive losses to its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Nevertheless, today France is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. France remains a presidential democracy and is made up of 26 administrative divisons (22 metropolitan departments and four overseas regions).

Historical Note:

"There is no other way of describing Paris in 1949 than it being the center of the universe. After years of occupation by the Nazis, Paris was finally liberated by the Americans in 1944 and the party never stopped. People were wild, unabashed, liberated both emotionally and artistically."

"The French people embraced Americans with open arms and soon from the ruins and ravages of war came a celebration of life rarely seen in modern times."

- St. John Hunt from his book,
Dorothy (The Murder of E. Howard Hunt's Wife -
Watergate's Darkest Secret) p. 23.

Yellow Vest Protests:

By the second weekend of December, 2018, France had seen four consecutive weekends of demonstrations against fuel tax rises, high living costs and other issues. About 125,000 protesters took to the streets on Saturday, with more than 1,200 taken into custody. Called the "Yellow Vest" protests (due to the personal vehicle safety vests being worn by the demonstrators) French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the situation "a crisis" for both society and democracy. He stated, "It's a catastrophe for business, it's a catastrophe for our economy." The French capital was particularly badly hit, with windows smashed, cars burned, and shops looted, as 10,000 people took part in demonstrations over the weekend. French President Emmanuel Macron later implemented anti-crisis measures for his country.

List of Recent Terrorist Incidents In France

Sadly, France has been the the target of terrorists in recent years. Hopefully
France, and Europe in general, will start allowing their citizens to arm and
protect themselves against these monsters...

• July 14, 2016 (Thursday):

  Another monster killed more innocent people today. This time it was a terrorist in a truck driving through a Bastile Day crowd in Nice, France. He ran over and killed nearly 80 people until the police shot and killed him. How can these monsters be stopped?

• November 13, 2015 (Friday):

  ISIS Claimed responsibilty for multiple attacks against civilians throughout Paris. The terrorists killed 129 innocent people, and injured another 350, in attacks at a restaurant, at a sporting event, and in a theatre. Of the 129, 89 were killed at the Batacian Theatre where the American band Eagles of Death Metal had just finished playing. On February 16, 2016, Eagles of Death Metal returned to Paris, to perform, at which time frontman Jesse Hughes commented on France's strict gun control laws; "Did your French gun control stop a single fucking person from dying at the Bataclan? And if anyone can answer yes, I'd like to hear it, because I don't think so. I think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that I've ever seen in my life charging headfirst into the face of death with their firearms." Hughes said that guns were the equalizer the night of the terror attacks stating, "I hate it that it's that way," he said. "I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe that until nobody has guns, everybody has to have them. Because I don't want to ever see something like this happen again."

• August 21, 2015 (Friday):
  

  Three Americans and a Briton foiled a suspected terror attack on a high-speed train to France through Belgium. U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone and his friends Alek Skarlatos, an Oregon National Guardsman, and Anthony Sadler, a student at Sacramento State University, were on the when a man armed with a Kalashnikov, an automatic Luger pistol, and a box cutter raced through the car. The men tackled and subdued the gunman, who was taken into custody in France. French authorities then took control of the suspect, Moroccan national Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, for later questioning On Monday, August 24, 2015 French President Hollande presented Stone, Skarlatos, Sadler and Briton Chris Norman with France's top honour, the Legion d'Honneur, at the Elysee Palace. Mr Hollande pinned the medals on the chests of the four passengers at the ceremony in Paris on Monday morning. Before the awards, he said: "We are here to honour four men who, thanks to their bravery, managed to save lives." "In the name of France, I would like to thank you. The whole world admires your bravery. It should be an example to all of us and inspire us. You put your lives at risk in order to defend freedom." (Two other unnamed passengers received the honour at a later date.)

• January 7, 2015 (Wednesday):
  

  At about 11:30 local time, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building. After leaving, they killed a French National Police officer outside the building. The gunmen identified themselves as belonging to the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, who took responsibility for the attack. Several related attacks followed in the Île-de-France region, where a further five were killed and 11 wounded.

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