WW1
Does anyone know what this club or any other is doing for the Great War centenary celebration in November 2018? I was looking & I see the Ypres site is already full & taking no bookings
Any special rally?
Ferry prices already look somewhat higher
Comments
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I think you might have to actually wait until 2018 to find out just what is planned. I am sure there will be hundreds and hundreds of events planned in France ...... but just how many campsites will be open in November is a big question. French campsites have a very short season, generally, and unless they expect many more visitors I suspect most won't extend their opening dates. I suspect that this club, and others, may not arrange anything! So perhaps it's best to look at other options................! Good luck in finding something in order to celebrate this Centenary.
What ferry crossings have you checked, to say that prices already look higher (dates/times/routes)?
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My comment about this Club, and others not organising tours in November, was mainly related to the lack of open campsites - and the likelihood that those still open at that time of year, in the WW1 areas are probably already fully booked.
The Caravan Club did organise Flanders Fields tours in June and September 2014 - but generally these tours are planned well in advance, and I haven't seen anything mentioned about a tour in 2018. There are plenty of other (non-caravanning) organisations offering WW1 tours for 2018 - including this one to Ypres, still with free places.
A friend of mine, a retired history teacher who is a WW1 'expert', is escorting a tour next year (they will be in their campervan) - but not in November, unfortunately.
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The armistice was not signed at Ypres but at Compiegne near Paris, and there will surely be a ceremony there. Camping Croix de Vieux Pont is only a 20 mile drive away and is open all year, as is the main Bois de Boulogne campsite in Paris - with trains from Paris to Compiegne taking 40 minutes. Independent travel might be better than looking for a Club rally.
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Good morning,
Thank you for getting in touch today.
I have passed your request to our Tours and Excursions Team, they arranged all the Overseas Tours for 2018.
I would be delighted to update any information I receive back from them if they have a Tour planned.
With kind regards.
Kimberley.
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You will certainly see more if you go on a different date. My friend, the history teacher mentioned above) was on holiday in late June and explored the areas he'd previously taken school children to. Driving past an old farm, he realised that it was the very centre of a WW1 battle where one of the old boys from his school was killed**. He pulled in to ask the farmer if he could take photographs, and the farmer took him and his partner to a site which was still being excavated, on their land, where a buried German tank had been discovered with bodies in the tank, and underneath the tank tracks. **The site may well be announced as an important find in the future, but go when the crowds aren't there.
Ypres, at any time, has a nightly Last Post ceremony, which is very moving. My OH's great uncle lost his life in WW1 and his name is mentioned on the Menim Gate where the ceremony is held, so it was a very special experience for us - but on a normal day in June 2014. You can visit this 365 days a year, and it's guaranteed to move you.
My history teacher friend is writing a book of the 'biopic' of each and every one of the old boys who were killed in WW1 - and we actually visited a War Graves Cemetery in Thessaloniki in Greece, where one of these old boys is buried, in order to take some photographs for him. This was also a very moving experience. We realised that these sites are so well maintained, even in the far flung bits of Europe. We chatted to the gardener who works there, looking after the graves, and even that was very moving.
There are lots of very very small War Graves Cemeteries in France. We found one near Chateau du Gandspette which was extremely moving, with graves including one of a 17 year old. If you're really interested have a wander round your local Cemetery where memorial tablets to those who died in WW1 will now have been erected. Our local cemetery has a lot of new gravestones.
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While we were staying on an Aire in Ypres some weeks ago for the Centenary of Passchendaele ceremony an old work colleague got in touch with me on Farcebook and mentioned a relative of his had been killed in Belgium in 1917.
He asked if was it possible to visit the grave as no-one in the family had ever visited his resting place.
Belgium is a fairly big country, they say it's a small world and coincidences abound, but I found we were parked on an Aire only 200 yards from the Cemetery where his relative was buried.I took videos of the cemetery, pictures of the grave stone and general surrounding area.
When I got back home I did a bit of research about the Soldier and cobbled together a video and posted it on Youtube.
As mentioned previously a visit to the Menim Gate Ceremony is a 'must do' on anyone's itinerary but please take at least one handkerchief with you – you'll need it.
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KeithandMargaret how moving, thank you for sharing, your friend is very lucky. I think (know) you have played down the amont of research you 'cobbled together'. Research takes time and effort, a lot of reading, and then putting it together. That certainly is a fitting memorial.
I have a great uncle listed on the Menin Gate but have never been brave enough to visit. Our daughter did during her history GCSE and what she described was so moving. I have visited Gold beach where my dad labded in the August of 1944 aged 19. We did a lot of Normandy and the war gravesend - moving. It' important we remember.
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There are some timings on both Dover/Calais and Dover/Dunkerque where the sailings are restricted to heavy goods vehicles and solo cars. Caravans are not booked on to these crossings - though if you turn up early or late for your sailing you may be put on one if there is still space. It's to maximise space for HGV's
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There are lots of "NEC type hard standing no awning " places all over France already. You don't need Kimberley's help...you need a Motorhome.
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In a caravan you can also 'overnight' on supermarket car parks, usually, unless there are 'No caravans' signs. France is more tolerant of this sort of thing than in this country. I wouldn't expect to stay for a week, and you'd have to be self-suficient, for water and waste, but in our 'getting there as quickly as possibly by driving until too late to find a site' days, we did this several times.
But another suggestion is to stay in France somewhere, and drive to Ypres. When we took some of our 'First Timers in France' tour guests to Ypres we were staying at Chateau du Gandspette and went to Ypres for half a day, ending with the Menin Gate ceremony, at 8.00 pm, and then back to the site.
Many of the French WW1 sites in that part of France are reasonably easily accessed from further away than potentially busy campsites on the doorstep.
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Why the emphasis on Ypres? The main ceremonial in France will be at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, with a big parade along the Champs Elyssees. If I were going there in November I would fly there (£60 return) and book a hotel for two or three days.
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Good morning to you all,
Just a quick update, at present we do not have a Tour planned for the
Great War centenary celebration in November 2018.
I will of course keep you all posted should this change later next year.
Enjoy the weekend everyone.
With kind regards.
Kimberley.
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We visited the Somme area last year and were at one of the services at Thiepval to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. While there we met someone who was leaving a cross for his relative who is on our village war memorial. If anyone is interested it is in my blog about the trip.
https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/somme/
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