Weekend Tour ww1 sites 11th to 14th June

Well with only a week to go, I have no idea what I am going to do when I get over to France. I am taking 8 bikes over, total in party 10 and looking at making it a mini tour, so some may wish to come back and find out more. I will be based at Les Ballastières at Gauchin Verloingt and have some ideas, based on some of the excellent information on this part of the forum.
Day 1 - I was thinking of looking at the Lochnager Crater and then into Arras for the Wellington Quarries. (Vimy Ridge if time allows).
Day 2 - Heading north towards Yypres and doing Vimy Ridge on the way. I want to end up at the last post at the Menin Gate. Would I have time to do Hooge Crater, Tyne Cot and Sanctuary wood, and or perhaps Langemark.

Help is day 2 too much, if so, what would be the best option......

Regards

Nigel

Next weekend is the Le Mans 24 hour race so lots and lots of Brits (including Wapping of this Parish and myself) will be heading across the ditch to drive far too fast on their way to the Circuit. Friday and Sunday evening will be particularly busy.

Les Garcons en Bleu (French Rozzers) will be out in force looking to get funds for their Christmas Parties from unsuspecting British drivers and riders.

Watch your speed, particularly entering and leaving villages

A trip I plan to do with my nipper soon - look forward to the trip report.

Watching out for the Police - Thanks

Thanks for the update, Le Mans and some other stuff.
Will take on your advice and will stick to non motorway routes,

Regards

Nigel

I'd give Sanctuary Wood a miss. It's the biggest rip off on the Western Front and there are plenty of much better places to visit.

advancedbiker said:

Well with only a week to go, I have no idea what I am going to do when I get over to France. I am taking 8 bikes over, total in party 10 and looking at making it a mini tour, so some may wish to come back and find out more. I will be based at Les Ballastières at Gauchin Verloingt and have some ideas, based on some of the excellent information on this part of the forum.
Day 1 - I was thinking of looking at the Lochnager Crater and then into Arras for the Wellington Quarries. (Vimy Ridge if time allows).
Day 2 - Heading north towards Yypres and doing Vimy Ridge on the way. I want to end up at the last post at the Menin Gate. Would I have time to do Hooge Crater, Tyne Cot and Sanctuary wood, and or perhaps Langemark.

Help is day 2 too much, if so, what would be the best option......

Regards

Nigel

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I'm afraid I don't know the distances between those places but I would guess that would be too much. Vimy Ridge will probably take a couple of hours on its own. I think I'd opt for Vimy Ridge and then to Ypres as there are lots of things to see there including the main museum which takes a few hours or if you didn't have enough time for that there's a little church in the town which is full of WW1 history. Or simply stop at a WW1 cemetery that you pass.

advancedbiker said:

Well with only a week to go, I have no idea what I am going to do when I get over to France. I am taking 8 bikes over, total in party 10 and looking at making it a mini tour, so some may wish to come back and find out more. I will be based at Les Ballastières at Gauchin Verloingt and have some ideas, based on some of the excellent information on this part of the forum.
Day 1 - I was thinking of looking at the Lochnager Crater and then into Arras for the Wellington Quarries. (Vimy Ridge if time allows).
Day 2 - Heading north towards Yypres and doing Vimy Ridge on the way. I want to end up at the last post at the Menin Gate. Would I have time to do Hooge Crater, Tyne Cot and Sanctuary wood, and or perhaps Langemark.

Help is day 2 too much, if so, what would be the best option......

Regards

Nigel

Click to expand...

If time allows dont just take the fellas to the big hole in the ground at La Boisselle. If they are first timers to the area then a visit to Thiepval (2miles away) is a must. The visitor centre is relatively new and full of interactive wizadry that helps to understand what went on there during the battle of the Somme which of course went on from July to November 1916. Entrance is free. It is eclipsed by Lutyens memorial to the missing on the somme (see my avatar) and you may want to spend more than a few minutes there.
Dont forget to pre book your visit to the Wellington tunnels or else your sizable party wont go down. If you fancy scram i.e. late breakfast or a hearty lunch then consider Avril Williams gaff at Auchonvilliers avril@avrilwilliams.com she will gladly feed you all and she will give you tips as to where to go next to fill the day. She is the local Oracle believe me. Oh, and please say hello from me.
Day 2
Yes you can do them all. Time in the saddle permitting.
Hooge crater and Sanctuary wood are very close together. I echo what has been said about Sanctuary wood museum but if you can see beyond the twat that owns the place, it still has one of the finest collections in the salient and the stereographic? photos will take you back in time for sure.
Tyne Cot... a must and speaks for itself.. you will go there.
Langemark as above and only a few miles away.
Ypres itself. A visit to the Cloth Hall museum is also a must as is a visit to St. Georges Chapel.
Have a great trip, wish I was coming along. I was only there 2 weeks ago with my gs. Its a long way on my lonesome from Spain but was well worth the effort. P.M. if you want any more pointers but for sure someone will be along with more tips.

Contact at Wellington Quarries

Hello Glyno

Contact the local tourist place at Arras, no reply for the booking. Any better contact details would be appreciated.

Thanks for the other stuff, will go with your suggestion re Theipval

Ta

Nigel

Here you go http://www.carriere-wellington.com/ .There is a tab to click for the English version and a contact Tel number. The staff speak our lingo

advancedbiker said:

Hello Glyno

Contact the local tourist place at Arras, no reply for the booking. Any better contact details would be appreciated.

Thanks for the other stuff, will go with your suggestion re Theipval

Ta

Nigel

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:

Do not go here. This is the only place I visited in my tour that I felt the memory of what had taken place there was being devalued by the money grabbing Jabba the Hutt who "welcomes" you into his museum with a grunt and a greasy paw held out.

Thanks for all the info - RAN OUT OF TIME......

Thanks everyone for all the advice, the only thing that was against us was, not the weather, but the time.
Day 1 Saturday we went to Theipval, Avril Williams Tea rooms, Newfoundland Monument and the Lochnagar Crater. After which found some nice roads back to the digs. Decided on a cheese and wine night which ended up as a greek BBQ. Cheese very alcoholic.
Day 2 Sunday to Vimy Ridge, but tours were running a bit late so put my schedule back a bit, so made Hooge Crater next - Recommended.



Chilled out and made for last post at Ypres.
Day 3 Homeward bound, I thought via Batterie Todt, but found some great twisty roads back to the Eurotunnel and after having dinner, ran out of time and never made Todt.



Will I go back - Yes.

Thanks everyone and thanks Glyn for the Avril Williams choice.

Nige

Glad you had good trip, I am going back to Ypres again on 9th July for a long weekend with the other half, car as she is unable to ride pillion any more, this will be 3rd or 4th visit so if you want anything for the future let us know.

How are you getting on with the bike now you have had it for a while?



Teejay (Tim)

Getting on with the BM

Had the GS 1200 now since February, and done two French trips. She is going very well and I think have I have converted two Pan riders.........They may be purchasing. The grunt of the twin really works well on the twisty French roads we found, the D8 especially. One thing I found disappointing was a buzz, come vibration around 80 mph, but my mate on a ST1200 told me they do that. Top speed not as high as the VFR, but been there and got the 'T' shirt. Will be back, but perhaps doing more road work and taking a bigger group - Advanced Training.

Bennysdad said:

Do not go here. This is the only place I visited in my tour that I felt the memory of what had taken place there was being devalued by the money grabbing Jabba the Hutt who "welcomes" you into his museum with a grunt and a greasy paw held out.

Click to expand...

I agree that Jabba is a lard arse budda, but i was there 2 weeks ago and was really moved by the 3D box images ( thousands of them ) and the trenches, even though the trenches etc have been redug it gave a good feeling of the horrors of the war.

I would recommend going there, each to their own.

Report on the trip to Northern France June 2010

The trip to France in June 2010
Despite a traumatic start for me the group leader – Eurotunnel running 3 hours late due to technical problems, we got to the bed and breakfast just one hour later than planned. Evening meal had already been booked.
Day 1 – First day in France and I decided to take the group onto the edges of the Somme, just to let then sample what was available to see. I had been in touch via the UKGSER forum with a fellow rider from Spain and he suggested the following. Well he came up with the right format. We headed to Thiepval to see the memorial and also the newly opened museum. A great place to start if you know little or nothing about the world war one.
I took Sue, our host’s advice, (our base was Les Ballastieres 156 rue du Moulin Gauchin Verloingt, 62130 Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, France - http://www.lesballastieres.com/) ignored my sat nav plans and went to look for a road called the D8. What a find, bend after bend, with great cross views.........
We spent a couple of hours at Theipval before heading north for lunch at Avril Williams tea rooms 10, Rue Delattre, Auchonvillers, 80560, Somme. We had a leisurely lunch and toured the place and Avril suggested some other places to visit. Well time was getting on and we were so chilled, time was running out to see many more sites. I had wanted to see the Lochnagar crater at La Boiselle, but on route stopped at the Newfoundland Memorial Park. This park, located near Beaumont Hamel, is one of only a few sites on the Western Front where the ground remains largely untouched from when the First World War ended. The main entrance to the Newfoundland Memorial Park can be found on the D73 road between Hamel and Auchonvillers.
The distances between all these sites are not great so I was able to show the group the Park, before heading to the crater.
Site seeing done, I had to plan a ride back to the bed and breakfast, via an Aldi as we were having a cheese and wine night.
The route back, after filling up with fuel at Albert was along the D938 to Doullens, where we stopped for refreshments. Then like before, time was against us so a run up the D916 to St-Pol- sur-Ternoise, saw us getting fuel and all the food for our cheese and wine. Then back to the bed and breakfast in Gauchin – Verloingt. A great night, after a great day.
Day 2 – A look at the Western Front and run into Belgium saw us heading towards Vimy Ridge, the Canadian memorial. Another good site to visit as you can have guided tours of the ground and under ground tunnel. Time again was against us so we made our next stop the Hooge Crater, just outside Ypres.
We made our way into Ypres for the last post at 8pm, then a run back to the b and b, for a light snack of the remaining cheese supplemented by some chips we managed to get enroute. Another great day, only isuse was we weer due to go home the next day. Ah well I had planned a run back via a world war two museum, before heading to Calais for the Eurotunnel
Day 3 – The run home.
Plans never go right as I found some more fantastic roads and did a detour towards the coast, leaving St Pol along the D343 to Anvin then on the D94 towards Auchy-les-Hesdin. Here we turned north to pick up the D108, and D343 stopping in Hucqueliers for a drink. We then went onto Desvres, where Bob fueled up and I got a bit lost. I finally managed to find this roller coaster of a road through the Forest of Boulogne, the D341, before we got to Boulogne. Where we saw a first traffic, mainly British idiot drivers coming from Le Mans 24 hour. Never mind we went into Wimereux, a coastal town and had a leisurely dinner. You guessed it, time was against us, so we made straight for Calais.

We will be back......

Glad to hear the trip went well Nige