Itinerary
Saturday 14 March Fly from USA
UA 918, 6:20: Dale Fleishman & Ron Jenkins
BA 0192, 7:30: Patsy & Dale Meyers
UA 4480, 10:25: Ann & Richard Adams
LH 4756, 14:15: Laurence Barker
Sunday 15 March Arrive London after overnight flight, transfer to Canterbury.
LGW: DL 12, 5:55: Rose McQuilkin, Mary Rose Walls, Jay & Evelyn Rogers, Ken & Joyce Kennamer
CO32/NW102, 7:00: Melinda Young, John & Linda Edmundson
CO 4, 9:00: Mickie McElroy, David Dooley & Michael Dwyer
BA48, 12 noon: Sara & Charlie Lewis, Sue Edwards & Jim Ernest
DL 10, 12:05: Judy Vallery
BA 288, 2:05 pm: Carrol Smith & Lynne Bueler, Donita Lincoln
[Take Heathrow Connect to Paddington Station (6.90) change to Underground. Take Bakerloo Line (Brown) to Charing Cross. (Or, if there are 3 or more of you together, take the Heathrow Transfer from the airport to Charing Cross.) Take train from Charing Cross to Canterbury West. Turn right out of station, turn left at roundabout. Falstaff Hotel is on the left before you reach the tower gate.] Tour begins at 4:00 pm with short walking tour for introduction to Canterbury. 7:00 pm dinner and overnight in Falstaff Hotel. +44(0)844 600 8707
Monday 16 March 9:00 am departure from hotel for Canterbury city walls walk followed by a visit to the Cathedral, audio guides included. Afternoon free to help dealing with jet-lag. If it is open, Dr. Thomson will lead an optional tour of St Augustine’s Abbey (in the city). 7:00 pm dinner in local restaurant, overnight in Falstaff Hotel.
Tuesday 17 March Depart hotel at 8:30 for all day excursion starting with the Battle of Hastings site (90 mins by coach) & the pretty Cinque Port town of Rye. Group lunch (included), free time in Rye, return to Canterbury by 6 p.m. Dinner independent, overnight in Falstaff Hotel.
Wednesday 18 March 9:00 am departure for WWII excursion: Battle of Britain memorial on the White Cliffs near Dover, Spitfire & Hurricane Museum, tour of Dover Castle – the medieval part, then the Secret Wartime Tunnels from which the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation was managed. 7:00 pm dinner and overnight in Falstaff Hotel. (Pack tonight in preparation for early departure in the morning.)
Thursday 19 March Early breakfast and checkout. Bus rolls at 7:30 am, arriving at Channel Tunnel at 8:05 in time for 8:50 departure. Arrive 10:30 French time, followed by 4 hour drive from Calais to Bayeux for 3 nights – on arrival, stops at Juno (Canadian) & Gold (British) beaches to see the remains of the Mulberry Harbor, one of the ‘swimming’ tanks (retrieved from the seabed in the 1970’s), and German coastal defences. 7:45 dinner in local restaurant in the square by the hotel, overnight in Hotel d’Argouges, +33(0)2 31 92 88 86 Bayeux.
Friday 20 March 8:30 am departure for visit of Bayeux Tapestry to see the pictoral description of the preparation for and the 1066 Battle of Hastings. Continue to Caen (30 mins away) for Abbaye aux Dames (superb Romanesque) & walk on Chateau walls (Henry I c. 1100 – huge walls and barbican). Lunch in Caen w/free time after. Return to Bayeus,overnight in Hotel d’Argouges, Bayeux.
Saturday 21 March 9:00 am deoarture for Omaha Beach, the US Cemetery on the bluffs above (+ new Visitor Center, opened since we were there two years ago- v. good: 1 hr needed), Pointe du Hoc (where the Rangers scaled the cliffs), Utah Beach and Sainte Mere Eglise (paratroop landings), plus German cemetery. Dinner in local restaurant,
Sunday 22 March Check out of hotel and depart at 9:00 am for Somme (4 hrs) – afternoon visiting preserved trenches (Newfoundland Park), British memorial to the Missing, huge crater. Continue on to Amiens (40 mins) for 1 night. Dinner in local restaurant on the river overlooking the cathedral, overnight in Novotel, +33 3/22504242 Amiens.
Monday 23 March 8:30 depart hotel, first visiting Amiens cathedral in the morning and then drive 3 hrs north to Ieper (+ freeway lunchstop en route), arriving around 3 p.m. Check into hotel for 1 night in central Ieper – visit superb ‘In Flanders Fields’ museum (in the rebuilt 13th century Cloth Hall), then free time in city (v. attractive). After early evening meal (6.15 p.m.), attend 8 p.m. Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate (where the city fire brigade buglers play the Last Post in memory of the British who gave their lives to save the city in WWI) Overnight in Novotel, +32 57/429600 Ieper.
Tuesday 24 March Check out and depart hotel at 9:00 am for morning tour of Ieper battlefield – Canadian ‘Brooding Soldier’ monument to those lost in April 1915 gas attack, the village of Passchendaele, Tyne Cot cemetery nearby (the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world). We will then continue by coach to the Hotel Biskajer, +32 (0) 50 34 15 06 Brugge. After checking in, Dr. Thomson will do his “Briefly Brugge” walking tour. 8:00 pm dinner at Restaurant ‘tHuidevettershuis, overnight in Brugge.
Wednesday 25 March Early morning transfer by van to the Brussels Airport for those of you returning to the states. David & Michael, 8:50, John & Linda, 9:15 For those of us staying, there is a lot to see in Brugge. I will give you a pass which is good for visiting five of the museums out of some fifteen listed. Everything is within easy walking distance from our hotel. 7:00 pm dinner at Brasserie Souffleur, 05034 8292, overnight in Brugge.
Thursday 26 March Continued exploration of Brugge. Weather permitting, we will take a boat tour on the canals. 7:30 pm dinner at El Churrasco, 050 34 68 28, an Argentine steak house (indulge me–it’s hard to get good beef in Italy). overnight in Bruges.
Friday 27 March 9:00 am departure by taxi to the train station, leaving Brugge at 9:31 and arriving in Brussels at 10:33. Short walk to the Hotel Carrefour De L’Europe. +32 2 504 94 00 After checking in, free time to explore Brussels. Dinner plans tba, overnight in Brussels.
Saturday 28 March Tour ends with transfer to the airport for return flights.
Laurence Barker
Sara & Charlie Lewis
Carrol Smith & Lynne Bueler
Donita Lincoln & Melinda Young
Mickie McElroy & Rose McQuilkin
Judy Vallery & Mary Rose Walls
Patsy & Dale Meyers
Jay & Evelyn Rogers
Dale Fleishman & Ron Jenkins
Ken & Joyce Kennamer
Ann & Richard Adams
Sue Edwards & Jim Ernest
No Extension:
John & Linda Edmundson
David Dooley & Michael Dwyer