Makes me proud to be Canadian.

Even to this day, there's a close relationship between Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.

I'm not military but when I visited the Netherlands and France a few years ago, I was welcomed as a close friend by everyone I met. A Dutch family (who met my parents once almost 40 years ago) welcomed me into their home and treated me as one of their own.

When I spoke to people in Paris I was always shown kindness and friendship. (It's kind of obvious where I'm from when I speak French -- I speak it with a franco-albertain (Canadian) accent)... I even got a discount on a painting I bought because of it... lol