Friday 8 May 2009

Le monument aux morts

Photo taken last winter
In Versailles as in every French city, indeed every French village, there is a "monument aux morts", i.e. a memorial for all those who fell during various wars, mainly world wars I and II. It's a long list of names and dates. This is a detail of the Versailles memorial, the city dedicates it to the "Versaillais who died for their fatherland". It is erected right next to the town hall. Today is a holiday in France, commemorating V day in 1945.
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En ce 8 mai, je vous montre un détail du monument aux morts, qui se trouve à côté de la mairie.

19 comments:

Cezar and Léia said...

Great b & w picture!
It gave a melancolic sensation in this shot!
God bless you
Léia

VP said...

This monument looks very good in B&W: solemn, austere and timeless.

Lowell said...

Happy holiday! I like the way you composed this...it gives a great perspective on the large number of names.

Clueless in Boston said...

I like the angle and composition. I always find monuments like that interesting and always read the names....so sad.

Marie-Noyale said...

Une jolie perspective monochrome.
Bon "Pont"!

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Hope you linked to skywatch Friday. We see that little patch of sky in the upper right hand corner.

Because of you, we bought this postcard of Versailles from 1960. Looks like a delegation posing for a snapshot! If we figure out how to scan it, we'll post it!!!!

gogouci said...

Beautiful use of lighting. The rays hit the memorial perfectly, like a reading light.

Dave said...

Thanks for the link, have a good day.

Hilda said...

I was wondering what the holiday was about. Thank you for telling us.

This monument is even more striking in monochrome. Beautiful photo. And thank you for remembering.

Cergie said...

Un monument imposant qui n'est pas sans me rappeler celui de ma ville familliale d'Epinal dans les Vosges. D'autres noms se sont inscrits par la suite pour d'autres guerre : Indochine, Algérie.
J'avais fait un message précis lors de mon 1er 08 mai sur Cergipontin, celui d'auj est plus évasif, cependant j'y ai mis le lien vers le premier message.

Olivier said...

samedi entre dentiste et la fete de l'Europe avec Ebena, je n'hésite pas ;o)).

EG CameraGirl said...

I'm not surprised there are monuments in every town as France was in the middle of both World Wars. It's GOOD to remember those who've gone before us to fight for our freedom. Hopefully it'll help us learn to live more peacefully...though I'm not holding my breath.

Karen said...

Lovely photograph. I noticed the monuments on my first visit to France. Sad for the villages to have lost so many of their young men during those awful times.

Rob said...

So many names, may we never forget. Have a special holiday today.

Unknown said...

It's a good thing that people still remember the sacrifices of our forefathers. We can only hope that we learn from their example...and mistakes too, though as Your EG Tour Guide says, we better not hold our breaths.

I love the composition of this one. And the B&W works well too.

Unknown said...

I love this perspective! The memorial is beautiful and so is your photo.

Frankie / Nick said...

Blessings to those that died for peace.

crocrodyl said...

We also had this holiday in Poland. But now (after the collapse of the communism in 1989) this day is not perceived as the victory in Poland. For our real triumph we had to wait almost next 45 years...

Debbie Courson Smith said...

A nice view of it for us - thank you