WWI & WWII Battlefields ~ May 2013 ~ Tulips

Included with the WWI & WWII Battlefields, there was a city tour offered by Trafalgar, but as I have been to London several times, I decided not to do this and to do my own thing. I chose to go to Westminster Abbey. The abbey is about a 5 minute walk for the hotel. It is not cheap to enter at 17 pounds, but it is worth it and there is an included audio guide, which allows you to go at your own pace once inside. I had forgotten how opulent it was. There are so many tombs and memorials. I particularly enjoyed Poets Corner. For those who like to shop, the abbey does have a nice gift shop. I met up with Colin and the tour afterwards and met our driver Nico.

This afternoon, we headed to the RAF museum in Hendon. The tour itinerary suggests the Imperial War museum, however, it is currently closed to prep for the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. So, Trafalgar took us to this museum. It is a bit out of the way, but definitely worth seeing. There are many aircraft on display, the biggest of which would be the Vulcan. My favourite hangers were the Battle of Britain and the First World War aircraft. I marvel at really old aircraft made from wood and fabric and wonder how they were ever airworthy. We had about two and a half hours here. One lady on the tour is a guide at an aviation museum in British Columbia, so she really enjoyed the museum.

The Director dropped me off in Covent Garden and I made my way to Picadilly. I stopped at Fortnum's to buy tea and had a hard time deciding. Too many choices. I had a lovely dinner at the Criterion restaurant before proceeding to see the Audience with Helen Mirren. This play is phenomenal.

Day 5

I want to preface this with a caveat that what I post may not be representative of your tour. This is the first time the tour has run and we have a tour director who believes in tweaking so we see as much as possible. Not every tour director may do the same.

We started the day early so we could get out of London and its traffic. Colin informed us that we would be catching the 2:45pm ferry to Caen instead of the overnight ferry and would have 2 nights at the hotel in Caen. When I expressed my concern that we would be missing out on Portsmouth, he assured me that we would have the same time at places as scheduled. He said the original itinerary would have had us having dinner at 3 pm and en waiting for the ferry the rest of the time. I'm not sure that is the way the Trafalgar brochure put it, but In any event, we would have 2 nights in Caen.

Our first stop was at the Portsmouth DDay Overlord museum. This is a fascinating place. They have some examples of tanks and guns used In WWII as well as examples of landing craft and amphibious boats which were used on DDay. You also get the opportunity to board these craft if you wish.

The biggest highlight of the museum however, was the Overlord Embroidery. It is 41 feet longer than the Bayeux Tapestry and depicts the events of DDay, codenamed operation overlord. It is just spectacular. I can't imagine the time it took to sew. I lingered over this a bit just marvelling at it.

The old naval dockyard in Portsmouth is where all the ships and museums are. You have to buy a ticket to get onto the ships or into the museums. The Mary Rose has been closed for the last 4 years and the new museum does not open until May 31. I took photos of the HMS Victory and Warrior, but did not go on. Tickets were expensive and for the amount of time we had, I deemed it to be not worth it. Personally. I think more time could be spent at the dockyard. There are lots of places to eat though and many of us availed ourselves of the offerings.

We boarded the ferry to Caen around 2:45pm.. Six pieces of luggage from the coach were selected for closer inspection prior to boarding the ferry. Those people had to get off the coach and go with the inspectors. I did not have to go. They seemed to pick the smaller bags for inspection. The crossing was about 6 hours, but there is free WIFI on the ferry. This kept me entertained. We arrived at our hotel in time to go to bed. We had an early start the next morning. The hotel was nothing special.

Day 6 - 

This was to be one of our longest and busiest days.

You know you are in for a special day when you arrive at breakfast, sit down and start talking to a gentlemen who proceeded to tell me his father was killed in WWII when the gentlemen was 6 months old. The father is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery where we are going this morning. He has never had the opportunity to visit the grave before. 

We started with a visit to Omaha Beach. it was quite cool and windy, but this did not take away the poignancy of standing in a place where 69 years ago, so many thousands of men landed and fought and died.

Back to the gentlemen whose father is buried at the cemetery. He had been in contact with the cemetery beforehand, so they were expecting him and his wife. He was given an escort to the grave and some flags. He was able to take some photos with the flags. He later said it was very moving for him. I can't even imagine!

Since I last visited the cemetery some years ago, they have built a little museum. It tells the story of the over 9,300 Americans who are buried there. I have to say, it is really well done. The highlight was seeing Eisenhower's letter to the troops ahead of the DDay landings. We had quite a bit of time to view the museum and then the cemetery itself. Some of the more well known people buried here include Teddy Roosevelt and the Niland Brothers about whom Saving Private Ryan was based. They had signs indicating where these graves were, so it wasn't hard to find them. The cemetery is immaculately kept. In fact, there were goundskeepers working on it when we were there.

Colin took us on a little trip to see a hidden treasure afterwards. It was to see the parachutist hanging off the church steeple in Ste. Mere Eglise. Obviously not a real person, but on DDay, an airman did in fact get caught on the steeple with his parachute. To honour the airman, a replica was placed. A neat little stop.

Bayeux was our next stop and I should say that we had beautiful weather today. This was our lunch stop as well. Everybody raced to see the most famous thing in Bayeux, being the tapestry. It's amazing to consider how old it is and the intricate detailing. Entry comes with an audio guide and it only takes about 15 minutes to listen to the whole thing. A couple of people didn't listen to it and left because they feared it would take too long. 

I had lunch in a little cafe that promised quick service. Several others had lunch here as well. I had a croque Monsieur, which is essentially a ham sandwich, with cheese on top of the bread and then it is grilled. Yummy!

After lunch, we headed for a viewing area on the clifftops above Arromanches. From here, we could see all sorts of the leftover mulberry harbour. You really could see for miles for these clifftops. They have signs up where they show the layout of how everthing was from that vanatge point on DDay. Interesting stuff!

Our next visit was a highlight for me, and for the many other Canadians on the tour, I am sure. I can't tell you how I felt to be standing on Juno Beach. I just can't describe it. I found a rock from the beach as a souvenier. I also had a quick look round the interpretive centre. The staff are all Canadian, many of them students. What a wonderful opportunity for them. The centre detailed what it was like for Canadians on DDay.

Colin was not done with us for hidden treasures today. There is a house on Juno Beach that is featured in many photos and has shown up in movies. It was one of the first houses to be liberated on DDay. The house was badly damaged at the time, but looks pristine now. I was really excited to see the house.

Some people were interested in getting books and the like and Colin advised that there would be a good bookshop at the Caen Memorial. He also advised that this museum was not so good and not worth seeing. We went because it was on the itinerary. No one went into the museum that I know of. We were each given free books on the DDay landings and then several of us bought books and took note of books we wanted to read.

You think we did a lot today don't you? You must be pooped after reading all this? But, Colin was not done with us yet. He had one more surprise for us. He promised the chance to talk to living history. When I saw where we were, I was a bit excited because I had heard of the place previously. Some people did not know about it. Pegasus Bridge was what we saw. Stephen Ambrose wrote an entire book about this bridge and the events that took place. The bridge was part of operation Deadstick. What about the living history you ask? Well, there is a little cafe and museum right beside the bridge. The owner, Arlette Gondree was 4 years old when the operation took place on DDay. She lived in the house (now museum/cafe) at the time it was liberated. She has lots of knowledge. She has loads and loads of memorabilia in this cafe. She would not allow photos inside and that was fine. She also has a little gift shop and I bought a copy of the Stephen Ambrose book because it had the sticker from the house and I wanted to have that. What a wonderful surprise. 

We got to walk across the bridge and even see a replica horsa glider. It was a great end to a great day.

Did I mention the weather was wonderful?

We started the morning off with some rain as we headed towards Reims. This is the home of a famous cathedral as well as being at the heart of the champagne region in France. The drive was about an hour and a half.

Upon arrival in Reims, we made our way to the Taittanger Champagne House for a tour. We had a very informative guide and we spent about 40 minutes or so in the cellars. The tour started with a 10 minute film prior to going down to the cellars. Currently, there are approximately 10,000 bottles in the cellars and one thing we learned is that producing champagne takes a long time. At the end of our tour, we ascended from the cellars and got to sample the champagne. Now, I must confess, I am not a champagne connoseur. Those of you who are, may cringe at the fact that I really did not taste much difference between this champagne and any other champagne. I really haven't developed a taste for it and rarely drink it.

Any stop in Reims, must include a visit to the cathedral. Strangely enough, the itinerary did not include a visit inside. I have no idea why not? However, Colin arranged for us to go inside. The organ was playing, so we go to hear some of the music as we had a look around on our own. The stained glass is quite impressive.

Lunch was on the road today as we headed towards Fromelles. We first stopped at Le Quesnal Communal Cemetery Extension. This is a small Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery with 66 buriels. We stopped here so that one person on the tour could have the opportunity to visit and pay tribute at her family member's grave. This was another one of the very personal moments that we were able to be a part of.

We then visited Fromelles. The Australians saw action here and the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) cemetery is the newest cemetery for war graves and was dedicated in 2010. There are approximately 250 bodies in the cemetery including that of a 16 year old. Very sad indeed. They are in the process of building a visitors centre at this cemetery.

A short distance away is the poignant Cobbers Memorial, which commemorates the Australians killed in the Battle of Fromelles. The statue depicts a soldier carrying a wounded fellow soldier after a battle.

A further short walk away is V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery. There are 400 unidentified soldiers buried here and there are no individual graves. Instead, there are two white crosses which mark the areas where the bodies are buried. The memorial lists the names of many many Australians who were killed and have no known graves. We had a member of the tour who had family members whose names were inscribed on the wall. This was the third instance of a personal tribute that we were able to be part of while on this tour. While not directly involved, it meant a lot to me that these experiences were able to take place.

Day 11

This was a jam-packed powerhouse day. We were gone for over 12 hours seeing and experiencing. It is a day I will never forget!

Our first visit was to the Huts Cemetery near Ypres. There are over 1,000 graves in this cemetery. It is so named because of huts that used to line the road and which were used by field ambulances. This is a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery.

Colin then took us into Ypres proper for a walking tour and to let us see the Menin Gate. We would be seeing it that evening, but he felt we should see it without the throngs of people so we could really appreciate it. The gate really is something else. There are over 54,000 names on the gate, of people whose bodies have either never been identified or have never been found. That number is staggering to me. It's really difficult for me to articulate how I felt looking at all those names. It's a place for reflection, that is for sure.

Essex Farm was our next stop after completing our walk and time at the gate. Now, Essex Farm is a place near and dear to me. Not because I have family here, but because it is the birthplace of a very famous poem written by a Canadian. Every Canadian child learns this poem and it recited at every Remberance Day ceremony. Of course, the poem is In Flanders Fields and it was written by John MacCrae. Boy oh boy! I just couldn't believe I was standing in the place where the poem was written all those years ago.

John MacCrae was a soldier in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and this area was an advanced dressing station. You can still see the concrete structures used by the dressing station. Sadly, John MacCrae did not make it out of the war alive.

The other very poignant point in this cemtery is the grave of Valentine Strudwick. Have a look at his age on the grave marker in the photo below. I don't think you can help but be shocked and moved.

Another rare site that this cemetery is the grave of a Victoria Cross winner. You don't come across these very often.

All I can say is thank you for letting us visit this important site.

Our next visit evoked different feelings. We went to a German World War I cemetery. I think the important thing to remember is that these people were still men, regardless of which country they were fighting for. I will say, I didn't find the German Cemetery as warm as the Commonwealth or American cemeteries. Perhaps it is because the grave stones are dart and there isn't as much foliage. In any event, I believe it was a visit that we needed to do.

Our last stop before heading back to Ypres proper was to the St. Julien memorial otherwise known as the Brooding Soldier. It was at this location that the first gas attack of World War I occured. Over 2,000 people died as a result. On a side note, I was just in Ottawa and saw a mock up of this memorial and it was neat to be able to say that I have seen the actual memorial.

We had a good break for lunch. I ate and ran because I wanted to go to the In Flanders Fields Museum. This museum is dedicated to World War I in Flanders and has a variety of exhibits including the different types of grave stones used by countries and the different uniforms worn. There are also mock ups of what the Ypres Salient looked like during the battles. Overall, this is a really interesting museum. Additionally, they give you this poppy bracelet with a microchip to wear. At the start of the museum, you enter your information and as you move on through, you hold your bracelet up to the screens to log in and it gives you information about a person who may be of interest to you. I had four names given to me. I have not had time to investigate, but at the end of the museum, you have the opportunity to e-mail the names and information to yourself. So, when I have time, I am going to be looking into this as I am intersted in why I was given these names.

Our next out of Ypres visit was to Tyne Cot cemetery. This is the largest Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the world for any war. There are almost 12,00 people buried here. We learned that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has 4 permanent full time workers in this cemetery. When we were there, there were many more workers. They are in the process of replacing all of the grave stones ahead of the one hundredth anniversary of the war next year.

When had the opportunity to visit the 1917 Passchendaele Memorial Museum. This museum has examples of trenches and dugouts. I have to say, I felt pretty claustrophic down there and the loud sounds made it even worse. I can't imagine having to live and work in those conditions. The museum is small, but really well done.

Our last stop before heading back into Ypres proper was to the Hill 62 memorial. The photos on the memorial made this especially poignant.

We then had time for dinner. A few of us had a nice pasta and wine dinner at a lovely restaurant. On our walk back, we met an artist whose fascination with World War I led him to make some of his artwork. His Great Uncle is listed on the Menin Gate. I bought a print which depicts the names and images of Canadian soldiers. it's quite haunting really.

We then had the opportunity to watch the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. This does get crowded and people do tend to push in right before the ceremony starts. It is still very moving. A really poignant way to end the day.

Day 12

This morning was an early start as we had what was probably the longest drive of the tour. It was three hours to Groesbeek from Lille where we had been based the previous two nights.

Our first stop was the Liberation Museum. Before we saw any of the exhibits, we were treated to Liberation Cake. i don't know how to describe this. It tastes like apple pie, but has a cakey like bottom and outside. It was very good.

Now, to the exhibits. The museum is on one of the landing sites involved in Operation Market Garden. As you go through, you see life before the war, life during the occupation, and then liberation. It's a really fascinating museum. There is also a memorial hall, which is designed to resemble a parachute. We spent a good bit of time here and had lunch in the cafe as well.

Nearby is the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. There are over 2,300 Canadians buried here and many of them were brought from Germany. 

If you have seen the movie A Bridge Too Far, then you will be familiar with the Battle of Arnhem the John Frost Bridge. This bridge is named after the commader of the forces who defended the bridge. We got the opportunity to stop at the site. I had actually watched the film prior to leaving and was looking foward to seeing the bridge.

We then headed into Amsterdam, or I should say Utrecht. This was a bit of an annoyance. We were scheduled to spend two nights at a hotel in Amsterdam. About two weeks before the tour started, Trafalgar sent out a notice that we would be staying at a different hotel in Utrecht on the first night. Utrecht is about 40 minutes or so outside of Amsterdam. More on that later.

After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed into Amsterdam for the optional dinner. The meal was at Haesje Claes Restuarant. Everybody had a choice from four items for each course. I elected to start with a pea soup. I love pea soup and this did not disappoint. Delicious! I then had the vegeterian lasagna. Another item that did not disappoint. Yum! But, the piece de resistance was the cinnamon ice cream with brandy and raisins.

After dinner, we headed out for the canal cruise which was also part of the optional. In my opinion, you can't go to Amsterdam and not cruise the canals. You see so much. We had an hour or so guided tour.

Afterwards, we went for a bit of a walk because some people expressed a desire to see the red light district, LOL! One guy on the tour tried to take a photo of one of the girls in the window. Didn't really go over so well. Another guy really needed to use the toilet and the only one nearby was a green cage on the street. You can sort of see into these. Not my idea of a comfortable place to relieve oneself!

Now as for our hotel switch, the real consternation came with the wake up call for the next day. 5:45AM. The reason was because some people expressed a desire to see the Anne Frank museum and Colin was trying to accomodate those people, but he wanted to get there right when it opened so no one would have to stand in line for two hours waiting to get in. Of course, those who didn't want to go (who were the majority), including myself, were not happy. This was an issue becase of the Utrecht hotel. It would not have been an issue had we been staying the two nights in Amsterdam. I have been to the Anne Frank museum before and hadn't planned to go this time round. After much debate and the graciousness of Nico, our driver, those not going to the Anne Frank museum could sleep in and Nico and Colin would return to get us at 9AM. Unfortunately, this didn't get communicated to all parties because not everyone had taken the optional that night. A bit of a muck up all around and I hope Trafalgar does not do that for future tours. 

Day 13

A heavenly lie in this morning for about 28 of us. It was lovely. There was no one in the breakfast room either, which was nice. Didn't have to battle hoards of people for a place to sit.

Colin and Nico arrived at the hotel at about 9:30am to pick us up. Many people had chosen to do a day trip optional to Volendam and a Diamond Cutting Factory. About 13 or do did not do this optional including myself. I knew that if I did it, I would have no time to see any of the great sites that Amsterdam has to offer like its museums.

Those of us that wanted to do museums were dropped near museum square. I had intentions of going to the Rijskmuseum. i had been several years ago before they closed it for renovations. But it was raining slightly and the first museum I came upon was the Van Gogh Museum. Since I'd never been in this one, I decided to start here. There were only about 10 or so people in line to buy tickets at that point. There is a security check.

The museum is really well done. The exhibitions lay out Van Gogh's history from how he learned to paint all the way through to his last works. It was really interesting to see some of his earlier paintings with the faint graph marks he used. Van Gogh also copied other works as he was learning. There are many paintings to see so if you are a Van Gogh fan, this museum is a must see delight. You could spend hours here. I did spend a fair bit of time and even had lunch in the cafe.

There is also a really nice gift shop. i saw a scarf I really liked, but in the end. I couldn't justify spending 99 euros for a scarf.

As I left the Van Gogh, I saw the line ups for the Rijksmuseum. They were massive by this point and since we were being picked up at 3:30pm, I decided not to go. I didn't know how long I would be in line and didn't want to waste a lot of time. 

Instead, I went for a walk down towards the Royal Palace. I went through a lovely area with some high end art galleries and shops and some lovely flower markerts. An entire area along one of the canals was all flower markets.

It took about 20 minutes or so to walk from the museum to Dam Square and the Royal Palace. The Palace was open to visitors so I bought a ticket. They do have a bag check here. I always carry a little plastic bag in my day bag for this type of eventuality. I simply take out my wallet and phone and put them in the bag and then there is nothing worth stealing left in the checked day bag. Entrance comes with an audio guide.

The palace is really nice inside and what a novely, they allow you to take photos. King Willem-Alexander had been inaugurated as King less than 30 days before and one of the rooms had been used for the signing of the Abdication Document by Queen Beatrix. Once you got to the room in question, they had set up a large tv screen to show the room being used for that purpose. It was really interesting.

Beside the palace is the Niewe Kirk church. This was the church used for the recent inauguration. They had it all done up as it was for the ceremony with the exception of the flowers. They had the inauguration dresses of the 3 previous Queens as well. Additionally, you could watch a video of the ceremony as well as the two previous inaugurations. It was all fascinating. No pictures allowed though.

I then met up with the rest of the group and we all went back to the hotel to freshen up for the Be My Guest Dinner, which was also the farewell dinner. The dinner was held at the Pauw Family Farm (parents and 3 children). It was about 40 minutes or so from the hotel. We were their very first tour group. The dinner was like having a home cooked meal. It was really lovely and the kids seemed to be enthused to have us there and to help out with serving. There were two alcoholic drinks included. They gave us menu cards which we could keep if we wanted. The meal was buffet style and there was tonnes of food, so you could get as much or as little as you wanted. My only criticism was that the space was a little small for the 48 of us and it was small even with us split between two rooms.

The first course was pea or vegetable soup and then the buffet, which was: Root vegetables, curry kale, endives, sausages and dutch meatballs. Dessert was apple pie with ice cream. Yum!

After, dinner on the way back to the hotel, we were given the surveys for the tour. It was a mad rush to get them completed as Colin needed them back that night as well. I had a really early flight back to London the next day. As a result, I don't think anyone really got to say proper goodbyes. I then had to go back to my room and do a proper packing of my suitcase to prepare it for air travel. Wake up call was at 3:30 AM the next day. It's my own fault though, I wanted the first flight of the day back to London, so I could have a full day in London.

So all in all, I really enjoyed the tour. I know there were issues and I know not everyone enjoyed it the same. However, it was the first running of the tour and there were bound to be kinks. Yes, the tour was very fast paced and yes people didn't really bond per se. I do find that with shorter tours, it is hard to get around and really get to know everybody. It's not like doing a 30 day tour where you really get to know people.

I still highly recommend that tour and think it would be a great opportunity for families to share in the experience. There were lots of mother/son, mother/daughter, parents/children combinations on the tour. I should point out tthat when I say children, I don't mean there were young children on the tour, I just mean it in the context of parents and their children.