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All quiet on the Western Front
Carol and I have travelled with Leger before.
Meeting early on the Monday morning in Cardiff our feeder coach picked us up, always with friendly and courteous drivers and ‘off we went’ on our way. The feeder coach was comfortable and onboard facilities very good. Switching over at Dover interchange to our ‘tour’ coach we met the drivers and tour guide who we would spend the next few days with. The interchange went smoothly helped, in no small means, by the efficient Leger staff who were on hand to assist in any way possible to make our trip a good experience. After introductions and a few laughs we were off to France to experience the poignant (and haunting) Western Front for our 5-day break.
After travelling to our excellent hotel (the Best Western Alize) in Belgium, tired as we were we managed a beer or two before turning in for the evening. Our stay was very good, the rooms and facilities available was first class. Although ‘bed and breakfast’ there was always plenty to eat, there are other places to eat nearby. There was also plenty of choice in the hotel bar! Also, to meet different people with the same interests, to share these experiences with helped in enjoying the tour even more.
On our tour we visited the battlefields around Ypres, including Sanctuary Wood seeing the trench systems and museum, Tyne Cot cemetery, Messines Ridge, the Irish Peace tower, Ploegsteert (or Plug Street to the Tommies), the Christmas truce and the Menin Gate in Ypres itself. We went on to visit Wellington Quarries, Arras memorial, Monchy le Preux that was valiantly defended by the Newfoundlanders and then to the fantastic Vimy Ridge where the Moroccan Goums and Canadian soldiers sacrificed so much. We then visited the battlefields and cemeteries of the Somme where a ‘generation were lost’, seeing many places of interest including the largest British mine crater at La Boisselle, the Ulster Tower, Newfoundland Park with it’s preserved trenches (and danger tree) and the impressive Thiepval memorial to over 70,000 missing and museum. We also visited the small aid station where ‘in Flanders Fields’ was written. The excursions that were on offer were all good value, some of which included lunch and a drink.
Our homeward-bound journey was handled in the same professional manner as with our outward-bound trip.
The highlight for us must be the ‘Last Post’ ceremony at the Menin Gate that commemorates over 50,000 soldiers that have no known grave. The ‘Last Post’ ceremony is a fitting tribute to these men at 8pm each evening ‘calling all the lost souls home’ which is something that we will remember forever.
The tour was excellent value and special mention must go to our tour guide who really made the experience ‘real’, going out of his way to point out things of interest on the itinary and in addition to it, any ‘personal visits’ were handled with dignity and care. Our ‘Western Front’ journey, sometimes sad, sometimes poignant, always humbling will stay with us.
