THE GREAT WAR

[bardicastle]

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last year went on trip to belguim with few mates stayed in leper done all the cemeteries british,german,french,indian,and portuguese "dont think i left anyone out" and it was an eye opener as i have never seen so many graves especailly in such a small area, then we decided to head down to vimy to see the canadian memorial the size of it was amazing and all the no go area around the site as it was still full of unexploded chemical and normal bombs. we were told to go to a church called Notre Dame de Lorette,off we went again. When we arrived i was amazed again at the beauty of the place and the french ex servicemen which looked after the place all year round, in front of the church was a building best discribed as a lighthouse inside was
two ex servicemen standing guard over the coffins of six unknown soldiers and a very small coffin containing the ashes of the jews from the germany concentration camps for me it was a bit to much and was overwhelming which is not like me, but it was for me the highlight of the trip.

so if your down that way take a look it's well worth the trip.

have you visited any of these and what did you think?

http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_lorette.htm

 

[Glyno]

Always said that If I wasnt living down here then the Somme region would be my next choice. Ive been a regular visitor to the region for many years now and always make a point of visiting family graves (theres a few) .
The French cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette can be seen from Vimy and is a must to visit .You could easily spend a fortnight at least riding or walking the old battle lines and still only just touch on the subject.
Im up there again come Oct and cant wait.

 

[bardicastle]

Always said that If I wasnt living down here then the Somme region would be my next choice. Ive been a regular visitor to the region for many years now and always make a point of visiting family graves (theres a few) .
The French cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette can be seen from Vimy and is a must to visit .You could easily spend a fortnight at least riding or walking the old battle lines and still only just touch on the subject.
Im up there again come Oct and cant wait.

we are planning a trip over sept/oct never know we migt meet up

 

[Dazzle]

We are off to Ieper for the weekend (not on the bike )

preparing to be humbled

 

[cheesysalesman]

Ieper is fantastic and you must take in the last post at 2000hrs. Hotel Regina is great.

Tyne Cot is humbling and what ever your surname, there will be dozens of chaps there sharing it.

 

[Gecko]

You might find the attached files of use then.... Garmin wayppoints for Somme and Ypres area.

 

[bardicastle]

tyne cot was beautiful light and open, you must go to the german cemertary at Langemarck it's in total contrast all the tomb stones are black and the grounds are shaded and eiree, at the top of the cemertary are four seven foot german bronse soldiers standing guard " gives you the shivers "

 

[Dazzle]

You might find the attached files of use then.... Garmin wayppoints for Somme and Ypres area.

cheers mate,

I have roadtrip on a mac, not sure how to import files in to it.
I will have a go though thanks.

Dazzle

 

[Dazzle]

Somme waypoints imported but the ypres ones came up file not found, and one file was not highlighted not sure what went wrong,
as this was my first file import

thanks again Geko