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Old 11-10-2008, 03:59 PM   #1
burn_baby_burn
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Default Visiting Vimy Ridge.

I'm heading to Belgium on business next week. While I am there I am getting a guided tour of Flanders Fields. I have a few extra days and I was thinking of heading to Vimy Ridge and maybe even Normandy. Anyone here ever visited any of these places? Any tips or recommendations?
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:04 PM   #2
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Haven't been there myself to Vimy, but my sister went there with my Dad a couple of years ago, and from everything I hear, you shouldn't miss it.
The monument is stunning.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:15 PM   #3
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Only reason I would ever want to go to France.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:27 PM   #4
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I'm heading to Belgium on business next week. While I am there I am getting a guided tour of Flanders Fields. I have a few extra days and I was thinking of heading to Vimy Ridge and maybe even Normandy. Anyone here ever visited any of these places? Any tips or recommendations?
My sister has been to Normandy and it was a very emotional experience for her. You can read her travel blurbs here and view her pictures.


http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-...normandy-place

When I went through her pictures, I found it very interesting to see the differences in the 3 major cemeteries that she visited, Canadian, American and German.

I just get a feeling of peace looking at the Canadian one, so much softer and peaceful with all the flowers.



Canadian



American



German
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:30 PM   #5
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I'm heading to Belgium on business next week. While I am there I am getting a guided tour of Flanders Fields. I have a few extra days and I was thinking of heading to Vimy Ridge and maybe even Normandy. Anyone here ever visited any of these places? Any tips or recommendations?
A few friends of mine did a Northern France tour back in 2004 and saw some pretty cool sights. We visited the D-Day beaches, Dieppe, a German war memorial, and Vimy Ridge.

Vimy was pretty tough to get to actually, but it is amazing. You'll want to stay in a town called Arras which is about 15km from the Vimy Memorial. There is no public transportation so the easiest way to get to the Vimy Memorial is to hire a taxi cab out there, then catch a lift with a friendly Canadian back to Arras. There is no public transportation that takes you to Vimy, so this is the best way to do it.

Arras is a pretty cool town too; it was liberated by the Canadians and in a lot of shop windows there are Canadian flags and emblems everywhere in honour of the liberation.

If you have any other questions, go ahead and ask, I'd be more than happy to help.

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Old 11-10-2008, 04:31 PM   #6
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Vimy Ridge would be pretty sweet to see, the place where Canada arguably made its mark in this world. A few brave men who really made their mark and arguably changed the way the world looked at Canada.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:40 PM   #7
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A few friends of mine did a Northern France tour back in 2004 and saw some pretty cool sights. We visited the D-Day beaches, Dieppe, a German war memorial, and Vimy Ridge.

Vimy was pretty tough to get to actually, but it is amazing. You'll want to stay in a town called Arras which is about 15km from the Vimy Memorial. There is no public transportation so the easiest way to get to the Vimy Memorial is to hire a taxi cab out there, then catch a lift with a friendly Canadian back to Arras. There is no public transportation that takes you to Vimy, so this is the best way to do it.

Arras is a pretty cool town too; it was liberated by the Canadians and in a lot of shop windows there are Canadian flags and emblems everywhere in honour of the liberation.

If you have any other questions, go ahead and ask, I'd be more than happy to help.
From what I understand Vimy Ridge is only about 1.5 to 2 hours from where I am staying in Belgium. So I'm not sure if I want to take a day trip or spend the night. I certainly don't want to be rushed. I could be going alone since the others in my group are more interested in drinking and strippers than seeing history. I will more than likely rent a car.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:45 PM   #8
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Simmer2, how are the public transportation and hotels in that region? Having never been to Europe before I don't really know what to expect.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:47 PM   #9
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Only reason I would ever want to go to France.
A good reason, but the only reason? I love France.
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Old 11-10-2008, 04:57 PM   #10
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Simmer2, how are the public transportation and hotels in that region? Having never been to Europe before I don't really know what to expect.
Renting a car and driving there is a perfectly good option from Belgium, but if you choose to stay in Arras they have a train station that is pretty well travelled. I'm not sure if there's a direct train from where you are staying in Belgium or not.

As for places to stay, I stayed in a hostel there and it was pretty nice, I'm sure there are some smaller B&B's or hotels you could stay at that are likely reasonably priced.
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Old 11-10-2008, 05:55 PM   #11
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A good reason, but the only reason? I love France.

Pfft, there's nothing good in France but cheese eating surrender monkeys.
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Old 11-10-2008, 06:25 PM   #12
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Pfft, there's nothing good in France but cheese eating surrender monkeys.
What about that hot news chick? And wine? France makes good wine.
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Old 11-10-2008, 08:11 PM   #13
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A good reason, but the only reason? I love France.
Ok, thats not entirely true... I did hear the cheese eatting surrender monkey exhibit is great this time of year.

Seriously though, if it wasn't for an industry confrence or to visit a WWI /WWII monument I can't ever imagine myself going to France. I am sure there are some nice museums and other cultural type there, although I wouldn't be able to tell you the name of any without Google to verify my guesses. I have about as much culture as that bottle of chocolate milk I left under the seat of my van last summer, and it is all of the bacterial kind.
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Old 11-10-2008, 08:22 PM   #14
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I've been to Normandy before, but was there this spring with friends of ours and also went to Dieppe and Vimy. Apologies if this post is long, but this is a favourite topic of mine and I thought I'd toss in a few pics for good measure.

We started in the parking lot about a km away from the monument which is the home of a Parks Canada office (the area is a gift to Canada from The French so you are in theory on Canadian Soil). From there you can sign up for a tour of the bunker tunnels and go through the exhibit on the monument. The video on the restoration of the monument shouldn't be missed. Right nearby is a mockup of the trenches with the odd piece of actual trench and old bombs or military parts. Everywhere in the fields you see remains of bomb craters, which are now home to the Vimy Ridge sheep which keep the grass down. Think about how big these craters would have been as they've had 90 years to fill in.



Depending on what time the next tour is you can walk from the Parks office to the monument. I'd highly recommend this as you get to the monument slowly and can see if from many angles. As you get closer and closer the enormity of the monument becomes clear.



Part way to the monument is a Canadian cemetery which is also a must. Pay attention to the number of "Known Unto God" epitaphs which are bodies they couldn't recognize.



Vimy could be done in a day trip from where you are unless you want to stay and see it at night when it's lit up. The whole thing is very thought provoking.

Dieppe was also good even though it what whizzing rain on us. Standing out on the crappy shale beach makes you shake your head at the whole plan and how anyone would have gotten off that beach alive. The monument right near the beach is great to see and going to the Canadian cemetary is very moving. The relatives were given the opportunity to write an epitaph and the ones who did were moving. Make sure you sign the guest book in the nitch at both cemeteries.



The Normandy beaches are also good. The new Juno Beach Centre is good, and the tour is worth taking. The museum exhibits focus a lot on Canadian life during the war and not the actual landing. Omaha is the big one of course thanks to Pt. Ryan and The Longest Day. It's a must see though as you stand out on this beach and look back up the hill and wonder how anyone would survive.



The US Cemetary at Coleville is gigantic. It's the cemetary in the opening scene of Pt. Ryan. I didn't see it the first time I was there but glad I did this visit. While it's huge, it's very tastefully done.




For the heck of it I'll add the Germany gun battery at Longues was really cool to see and my friend and I both channeled our inner 6 year old by climbing in and around the gun placements.



All of my pics from the spring are in the link below, go to the second page for Vimy and the beaches.

http://www.stadevene.com/normandy.html

I'd say visiting the majority of the above is a must for anyone who is interested in war history and some of it is interesting on it's own as the wives can attest to. I'm missing all the stuff you'll see in Belgium so I'm anxious for your account and pics of that area.

Enjoy your trip.
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Old 11-10-2008, 08:27 PM   #15
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^^
Thanks for sharing...great pics and a nice post. Thanks.
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Old 11-11-2008, 07:20 AM   #16
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Great pictures, I have seen a lot of pictures very similar from my sister's trip. She went there with my Dad for the dedication of the Essex & Kent Scottish monument at Dieppe. That monument was built in Windsor and shipped over there and the few remaining E&K veterans that could make the trip did. The ceremony on the beach was very moving, and I'm so glad my Dad was able to go. There is a hole cut in the monument in the shape of the maple leaf and every year on the date of the battle, the sun shines through the hole and highlights the maple leaf on the base of the monument below. It is just beautiful.

There is a picture of my Dad in the Juno Beach Centre, in the display of the Dieppe battle. It is the article from the Windsor Star in August 1942, that has all the names and pictures of the men from Windsor that were missing in action from Dieppe.
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Old 11-11-2008, 12:01 PM   #17
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That ceremony would have been amazing to be it. Please thank your father for his service.
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Old 11-12-2008, 04:43 PM   #18
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FurnaceFace, how far from Vimy to Normandy?
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Old 11-12-2008, 05:02 PM   #19
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Only reason I would ever want to go to France.
No wonder Albertans are considered rednecks...

The Louvre alone makes France cool, and its only one museum.
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Old 11-12-2008, 05:10 PM   #20
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^ The Louvre is the only reason I went to Paris....
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