Displaying items by tag: somme

The book launch of Blue as a Cornflower, Red as a Poppy was in the North Shore Times. We held the book launch on Friday 9, 2018. This was two days before the armistice centennial. It was a very timely reminder of the shared destinies of our two countries.

At the book launch of Blue as a Cornflower, Red as a Poppy. Last year the students in this photo wrote and illustrated a book about the experiences of French and New Zealand soldiers at the Western Front during World War I. The French part of the story was focused on Verdun. The New Zealand part of the story was focussed on the Somme. These were both very important battles for New Zealand and France.

Bonjour a tous!

Samedi Dernier

On 25th June, The 10 Young ambassadors voyaged from far and near to Wellington for a workshop at the Alliance Francaise, here is where we all met each other for the first time, shared research projects and fundraising ideas, talk about French and also had a chance to discover some more details for the grand expedition in Septembre. We were privileged to  attend a reception at the French Ambassador's residence.

Merci

I’d like to take this opportunity to...

New Zealand and French students read poetry as a way of paying respect to the New Zealand soldiers who died in the Somme. Poems were read in Maori, French and the English language. We then laid a wreath and the New Zealand students sang a song in Maori. It was a great way to end the day and it was good to do this together. The students now understand very well that we both share a history for the First Wirld War. 

This afternoon we went on a literary tour of the Somme battlefield. We visited the village of Frise, saw where German and French soldiers had trenches and discovered stories about the war written by the author Blaise Cendrars. 

Before I went on the Young Ambassadors Tour, I had an interview with the Manawatu Standard.
A man named John who saw the published article, got in touch with me through school. He asked me to take a picture of his uncle Donald Wallace Macnamara, and put it next to his name at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery. I was more than happy to do this for him, as I could see it was of great importance to him and his family.
Visiting the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery was a very moving and emotional experience...

Fresh crêpes, cobbled streets, photo booths and Parisiens smoking with cool refinement. Polished marble floors with a glassy sheen, wrought-iron lattices and metro stations flashing by in lights of dull grey. These are the things I remember about Paris. As soon as the Young Ambassadors touched down on French soil, we entered a place where history and modernity walk alive in the streets.

Our first week of the tour was a whirlwind of tourist attractions and grand military parades along with...

Incroyable. Emouvant. Passionnant. Amusant. Interessant. There are so many words I could use to describe our trip to France. Ever since I returned to New Zealand people have asked me about my favourite part of the trip. I simply can’t give a single favourite part of the whole 2 weeks. So I will have to break it down into a few highlights which stood out from the others.

Sunday the 13th of July was the first full day we had in France. Naturally, we were all extremely excited to see all of...

It’s been around 3 weeks since we returned from the Young Ambassadors Tour, and the hectically busy life of school has been a bit of a shock after such an amazing trip.

I updated my Tumblr blog for every day of our trip, and all the entries can be found on the following link: http://ailishjean.tumblr.com/tagged/ya_tour 

I can honestly say that the two weeks we spent away were the best weeks of my life- I learnt so much about the war, and I made a new family in the other Young Ambassadors. The...

I guess now that I am home and rested I should update my blog!

First off I want to make a half apology for not updating whilst I was actually in France. I along with the rest of the Young Ambassadors was preoccupied with the wonderful sights and sensations that France and Belgium offered us.  I had an incredibly amazing time and really want to thank everyone who supported me in getting there! You are incredibly generous people and I would like to mention you here:

·         La Cloche Café in...