Dunkirk and Saint Valery-Sur-Somme

Time to leave Brugge, but not before a canal boat ride around the city which was a nice way to end our stay. Then it was back to the car and heading to Saint Valery-Sur-Somme on where the Somme enters the sea.

White swans on our canal cruise before leaving Brugge

One last view of Brugge

Our yummy lunch on the beach at Dunkirk

Sesame baguette, goats cheese, avocado and basil and olive tapenade- yummy

Beach at Dunkirk

We stopped at Dunkirk where we went to the actual beach where the British where evacuated in 1940. There is no memorial there but it was a lovely beach and we enjoyed a lovely picnic on the promenade.

Then we headed to Saint Valery-sur-Somme where we are staying the night. It has an old medieval town. There is a nice walk along the beach, but the town itself was very quiet.

View of the Bay of the Somme

 

Day 2 in Brugge

Brugge wasn't quite so crowded today, it was crazy yesterday with tourists everywhere- man those tourists! I went for a walk before breakfast when the streets were pretty quiet, so much nice without tourists around.

Lovely park lands around Brugge

Pretty canals

After breakfast Amy and I headed out for  Brewery Tour- this is my second brewery tour this holiday becoming quite the beer brewing expert- bit of a laugh considering I don't drink! We did get some lovely views from the top of the brewery. Turns out they have built a 3km beer pipe from the brewery in the centre of the city to their factory outside the old town where they bottle their beer. Took 4 years of planning and 6 months to build- it was quite a feat.

View from the top of the Brewery

Amy enjoying her blonde beer that came with the tour. I opted for a sparking water 

After lunch we headed out for a walking tour of Brugge which gave us some idea of the history of the city , was well worth it. We also got a tip on the best waffles to try so of course we had to check that out, it was very nice.

Excellent Waffle in Burg Square

Had dinner in a cosy little bar just down the a couple of alleyways from where we were staying. Friendly service and home made spaghetti and lasagna which hit the spot. Nice way to finish of our visit. We went for a wander after dinner, the streets were quiet with the day tourist gone for the night. Was nice to just wander the streets .

Brugge

We have arrived in Brugge, it is a lovely old medieval city with lots of tourists! We are staying two nights so in the evening once the day trippers have gone home it is even nicer without the crowds! We went for a wander around, checking out the Markt Square and the lovely buildings. It is a dangerous city- too many chocolate shops!

Wellington Caves at Arras and the Last Post Ceremony at Ypers

Today we left Butterworth Farm and headed north. We stopped at Arras where we visited the caves that had been tunneled out by the New Zealandersf from the limestone quarries that had been under the city for years.

Amy and I with our hard hats ready for the tour!

One of the tunnels built by the New Zealanders

One of the exits that the soliders used to go out and attack the Germans

From there we headed to Ypres, where we went for a wander and checked out this lovely city before checking into our Bed and Breakfast. After some dinner we headed down to the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate. We got there at 7pm for an 8pm start so we had a good spot right at the front and could see the Buglers who were right in front of us. They had a Maori contingent there, they sang a hymn in Maori and did the haka at the end. It was very moving.

The guy standing next to Amy has been one of the buglers for 37 years!

Replicas of the original lions that were donated to the Australian Government and are at the Australian War Memorial. For a while the originals where brought back to Belgium. They have recently made these copies here in Belgium by Belgian stonemasons using the same stone as the originals.

Menin Gate

Cemeteries and Memorials

Today seemed to have a theme of memorials and cemeteries. We first headed up to the Windmill Memorial just out of Pozieres which also had a memorial to all the animals that were killed in the war.

Poppies in the fields at Pozieres

Little cemeteries in the middle of a field 

Then we headed up to the Ulster Tower Memorial

The Ulster Tower

The Ulster Tower through the field

The Mill Cemetery

The woods at the Theipval Memorial

Theipval Memorial

French Graves

German Cemetery at Fricourt

Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont Hamel

Naours and Amiens

Today we headed out to Naours. Naours had an underground city of caves which over the centuries they used to hide in when they needed to escape from there enemies. It was used by the Allied Forces during WW1. It was behind the lines so a hospital was also set up. It was a fascinating place to visit.

Then we headed to Amiens where we had a late lunch, visited the Cathedral, walked around the town and along the Saint-Leu canal area. It was nice to see a bit more of this lovely city. We then went for a 45 minute electric boat ride through the Hortillonnages, which was a series of canals and market gardens and little allotments. These have been there since ancient times and are right in the middle of the city. It was such a peaceful and relaxing place to be.

View of the Amiens Cathedral from St-Leu

Stained glass windows

Carvings at the entrance to the Cathedral

Canals of Amiens

Amy and I on our boat ride through the Hortannalliges

Such a beautiful spot and so close to the centre of the city