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Published: September 24th 2019
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Well we have only gonna managed it!! House sold, moved into No32 (our new home from home, Harvey our Hymer) and do you know what we are knackered!
First priority when we get over the channel is to find a resting stop and recharge!! Bray Dunes just does that, in summer a humming seaside resort but right now a rather quiet stretch of beach which runs some 7 miles into Ostend, and which Poppy and we can walk to our heart contents, oh and don’t forget the Moule Frit.
Zonnebeke our next stop for two nights at the Memorial Museum Passchendale 1917 is set in the grounds of Zonnebeke Chateau. I have always, as Graeme thought that the First World War had no impact on my or Graeme’s family but you can see early on why this place is visited by so many to remember their dead. The museum is a good starting point as it sets the scene for the battles fought in the Ypres salient between 1914-1918 where incredibly over a 100 days of battle over 500,000 lost their lives and some 300,000 are now honoured in the many cemetery’s here. A poignant fact was how unprepared
for war the French were their Blue uniforms, Britain a professional army had already worked out that the ‘khaki, with the mud from the trenches was a better camouflage!
The next day takes us to Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves commission cemetery in the world, it is the resting place for more than 11,900 servicemen of the British Empire. These cemeteries are moving, restful but beautiful places and a credit to those who look after them. Only a few servicemen were originally buried here with thousands being moved to be buried for a second time allowing those who fell together to stay together.
Our bikes help us make the next journey to Essex Farm, a forward aid station on the edge of a canal where not only lies one of the youngest casualties Valentine Joe Strudwick aged just 15yrs but also the Canadian medical doctor John Mcrae where from he wrote his world famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’.
We finish our time here in Flanders by joining the hundreds at The Menin Gate ceremony performed totally by volunteers every evening at 8pm, it only validates to us the futility of war.
Onwards to
Bruges which doesn’t deliver for us so we make our way to Ghent, considered a grittier Bruges without the crush of tourists, a very different vibe and one we immediately get. A River Cruise was on the cards but delayed by the ‘die for’ waffles laddened with chocolate, strawberries and cream, anyone hungry!, and a drop In temperature curtails the cruise.
Further south, an unexpected but lovely find is Annevoie Gardens, designed and laid out in the 18th century it is primarily water garden, criss crossed by a network of surface and underground canals which feed a number of waterfalls which run down the hill by the chateau, all thanks to a main reservoir a 400m Grand Canal. Water has flowed naturally in the Gardens for some 250yrs, relying soley on natural differences in levels and without resorting to machinery.
Our final resting place is in Bertrix, in the district of Wallonia and the Ardennes area of Belgium with wooded valleys and hill top Citadels, we take two days down on a campsite to take advantage of its closeness to a deep woodland and great place for Poppy to run and wallow. An unexpected pleasure ends up watching
out for the red squirrels that frequent the campsite, it would appear Europe doesn't haven't the same infestation of greys!!
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David Salter
non-member comment
Thanks for keeping us posted
A very interesting first blog. I would imagine regular foot massage is required !!! Keep going and enjoy.