The Scenic Route to Courseulles Sur Mer

Well, we're on the final leg of our adventure. Today we left our hotel in Belgium, took another short walk through the town, then headed for the battle ground at Hill 60 Ypres. This is one of the battles my Grandfather fought during the war. He told us that the Germans had control of the top of the hill and that it was impossible to take because they could fire down at any troops trying to advance on them.

The allied solution to this problem was to tunnel into the side of the hill, pack the tunnels with explosives and blow the hill up! By all accounts, the explosion was heard as far away as London England.

The site itself was very understated. The first thing I noticed was the irregularity in the landscape created by explosives in the battle. I must admit, I felt quite an eerie chill walking through the battle ground.

Hill 60

Hills and Craters

From Hill 60 we left Belgium and headed south into France. Our destination was Vimy Ridge, another of my Grandfathers stomping grounds, and the Canadian Monument erected in the honor of Canadian Soldiers.

It was an hour and a half drive from Ypres. We drove through narrow winding streets for most of the trip. The houses and buildings were  full of character which has been the case throughout our trip.

As we approached the town of Vimy, the Canadian Monument loomed large over the town and could be seen towering over the town for miles. 

Vimy Memorial from a distance

We followed the narrow road to the monument. We were very fortunate to have it to ourselves for about 15 minutes between bus tours. It is huge! The grounds and monument itself were expansive, and the sheep seemed to enjoy the attention form passing tourist.

The Memorial

Dedication

All to ourselves

After leaving the monument, we traveled a little further through the park to the Vimy Welcome Centre where we met a lovely New Brunswick lass who directed us to the trenches and tunnels preserved from the war.

The fields around the trenches are roped off from the public. Even today, these fields are covered in mounds and craters from the battles and are protected from the wandering public by electric fences in an effort to preserve the landscape. Some of the craters around the trenches must have been 25 to 30 feet deep.

Bomb Craters

Trenches

Pill Box Entrance

Pill Box view from the inside

Pill Box view from the outside

After leaving Vimy,we made our way to Courseulles Sur Mer, the home of the Juno Beach Centre where we met up with Janet, Don and Kathleen. 

We will be staying here for a few days before returning to Paris for our flight back to Canada.

But thats a few days off.
Tonight we will get a good nights sleep and begin our tour of Courseulles Sur Mer and Juno Beach tomorrow.

 

We've really enjoyed our Scenic Route to Courseulles Sur Mer, but reaching your destination does not necessarily mean your journey is over.