Bonjour!
We made our way to Ypres (Ieper in Dutch), a small town in Belguim, it was actually the last bastion of Belgian territory unoccupied by the Germans in WWI. Almost 300,000 Allied soldiers were killed here during the four years of fighting that left the medieval town flattened. Convincingly rebuilt, the town and its surrounds, known as the Ypres Saliant, are dotted with cemeteries and memorials.
We went into the Market Square to see the Cloth Halls and visited ‘In Flanders Field Museum,’ rode around the town, looking at the numerous war monuments including Lille Gate, Ramparts Cemetery, the Burgundy Towers, people watching in pubs and enjoying the sunshine while it lasts J At 8pm, the Last Post was played by Buglers under the Menin Gate (a British war monument that displays 54,896 soldiers missing in action) and school groups laid wreaths on the monument. Next day we visited Tyne Cot Cemetery, Hill 60 and the Passchendaele Memorial just outside town. Tyne Cot Cemetery is the world’s largest Commonwealth Cemetery, holding 12,000 graves and another 35,000 names of British, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian soldiers missing in action.
We had a lovely day of relaxation on the third day and we gave Thundie a makeover, pulling everything out, cleaning it all, getting ready to sell it when we get back to the UK soon! Then we doubled on one push bike (Rhe’s is currently out of action with a broken gear lever) into town and had another beer. What a life we are living lol!
Onto Bruges!!
Ypres during WWI
'In Flanders Field the poppies grow...'
Trenches at Ypres
Beneath Hill 60 (replica)
Memorial
Menin Gate (Last Post)
Menin Gate lit up
Aussie miners at Hill 60
Hill 60 today
Medieval Tower
Cloth Halls
Market Square
Ciao
EJnRHE!!
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