Well after 'finally' getting the new Rapido 992mh we loaded him up and headed south, stopping off for a couple of nights with our friends Rog & Norm who were camping in the midlands. We had a great time getting used to the new van & trying out our new facilities i.e. baking some cakes in the new ramoska - Rog thought there was no end to my talents!
29th & 30th July '09En route to Dover we stopped off with Jay one of our other friends in the midlands & enjoyed a nice meal at the cock, heading off the following day destination Canterbury. We stayed on the UK equivalent of an aire which was superb & just like a little bit of France! After a stroll around the town, a few purchases in Lakeland & dinner at Wagga Mamas (one of my favourite places to eat), we headed back to camp. We were both so excited about finally being on the road again, albeit at least half of the trip down so far had resulted in me sitting in the back doing a bit of work or reading 'cos I was so nervous about the traffic!! Anyway we thought we would just enjoy a relaxing evening & early night ready for our ferry crossing, across from us there was an ever expanding family - the couple had 4 small children, a lassie dog & baby in the making......all in a 6 metre motorhome!!! They were sat outside when the dog who was tethered to the table went berserk & dragged the table, chairs, high chair complete with baby across the carpark.......it was like something from a comedy sketch & I couldn't quite believe it!! After the high drama we had an early night.
31st July & 1st Aug '09
Lille
The ferry crossing was great and a much better experience with P&O ferries than with Sea France! Our destination was Lille, we were going to see Arno and Chantal one of Mal's ex work colleagues. We arrived with them just after lunch & were greeted by Victorie (Arno's beautiful daughter), Chantal, Vixie, Zoom & of course Arno! There home was wonderful and they made us very very welcome. That evening we went to Lille to drop Victorie off for her train to Belgium & Arno gave us a whistle stop tour of Lille along with a stop off for drinks - it was great to see him after so long. We arrived back to a lovely meal prepared by Chantal which was all washed down with a few bottles of champagne! The next day we took a cycle ride around the area together, then they both took us into Lille to show us some of the sights, which was a really nice experience. We enjoyed another wonderful meal sat outside on the patio with some mean drinks they introduced us to which contained rum, sugarcane & lime juice - delicious!
Arno & Mal
2nd Aug '09
After a leisurely breakfast we headed off to Ypres as we where so near to the Belgium border. We found a small campsite & booked in for 1 night, then got on our bikes & explored the town! Ypres is a nice fortified town & worth a visit. There was a fair in the main square which is were we thought the aire was but never actually found the aire, we stopped off for a beer in the square & did a bit of people watching, also treating ourselves to a tray of frites which were scrummy! After dinner we headed off to the menin gate for the 8pm ceremony whereby they honour the dead of the first world war by playing the last post, the gate marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line. Its large Hall of Memory contains the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died without graves, cut into vast panels. On completion of the memorial, it was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned. An arbitrary cut-off point of 15 August 1917 was chosen and the names of 34,984 UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing instead......humbling to say the least!
Menin Gate
Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge
Whilstin Northern France we visited Vimy Ridge which is where another battle was fought from 9 April to 12 April 1917, this was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras. By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge. The corps suffered 10,602 casualties: 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with an approximate 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war. Four members of the Canadian Corps received Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for valour, for their actions during the battle. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is Canada's largest and principal overseas war memorial. Located on the highest point of the Vimy Ridge, the memorial is dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World War with no known grave. France granted Canada perpetual use of a section of land at Vimy Ridge in 1922 for the purpose of a battlefield park and memorial. A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park that surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches, craters and unexploded munitions, and is largely closed off for public safety. However, a section of preserved trenches and a portion of a tunnel have been made accessible to site visitors.
The original preserved trenches
Underground tunnels used during the war - spooky!
3rd & 4th August
Equihen Plage - what a great aire, superb location, superb weather, superb company! How lucky we are. The town here was very quiet & not worthy of a visit but the aire was right on the cliff overlooking a great beach, with a nice grass area to sit out & relax - which is what we did! Amongst playing cards, reading eating good food we didn't do much else '0h yes' we relaxed - heavenly!
Equihen Plage!
Our dining spot at Equihen Plage.
Lille
The ferry crossing was great and a much better experience with P&O ferries than with Sea France! Our destination was Lille, we were going to see Arno and Chantal one of Mal's ex work colleagues. We arrived with them just after lunch & were greeted by Victorie (Arno's beautiful daughter), Chantal, Vixie, Zoom & of course Arno! There home was wonderful and they made us very very welcome. That evening we went to Lille to drop Victorie off for her train to Belgium & Arno gave us a whistle stop tour of Lille along with a stop off for drinks - it was great to see him after so long. We arrived back to a lovely meal prepared by Chantal which was all washed down with a few bottles of champagne! The next day we took a cycle ride around the area together, then they both took us into Lille to show us some of the sights, which was a really nice experience. We enjoyed another wonderful meal sat outside on the patio with some mean drinks they introduced us to which contained rum, sugarcane & lime juice - delicious!
Arno & Mal
2nd Aug '09
After a leisurely breakfast we headed off to Ypres as we where so near to the Belgium border. We found a small campsite & booked in for 1 night, then got on our bikes & explored the town! Ypres is a nice fortified town & worth a visit. There was a fair in the main square which is were we thought the aire was but never actually found the aire, we stopped off for a beer in the square & did a bit of people watching, also treating ourselves to a tray of frites which were scrummy! After dinner we headed off to the menin gate for the 8pm ceremony whereby they honour the dead of the first world war by playing the last post, the gate marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line. Its large Hall of Memory contains the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died without graves, cut into vast panels. On completion of the memorial, it was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned. An arbitrary cut-off point of 15 August 1917 was chosen and the names of 34,984 UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing instead......humbling to say the least!
Menin Gate
Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge
Whilstin Northern France we visited Vimy Ridge which is where another battle was fought from 9 April to 12 April 1917, this was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras. By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge. The corps suffered 10,602 casualties: 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with an approximate 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war. Four members of the Canadian Corps received Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for valour, for their actions during the battle. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is Canada's largest and principal overseas war memorial. Located on the highest point of the Vimy Ridge, the memorial is dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World War with no known grave. France granted Canada perpetual use of a section of land at Vimy Ridge in 1922 for the purpose of a battlefield park and memorial. A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park that surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches, craters and unexploded munitions, and is largely closed off for public safety. However, a section of preserved trenches and a portion of a tunnel have been made accessible to site visitors.
The original preserved trenches
Underground tunnels used during the war - spooky!
3rd & 4th August
Equihen Plage - what a great aire, superb location, superb weather, superb company! How lucky we are. The town here was very quiet & not worthy of a visit but the aire was right on the cliff overlooking a great beach, with a nice grass area to sit out & relax - which is what we did! Amongst playing cards, reading eating good food we didn't do much else '0h yes' we relaxed - heavenly!
Equihen Plage!
Our dining spot at Equihen Plage.
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