 |
|
|
 |
Canadian Western Front and Normandy This is a generic itinerary designed to include the main sites of specific interest to Canadian groups from the Western Front, the Dieppe raid and Normandy .We custom-design each trip for the group concerned based on a combination of our own knowledge and contacts with those of the group organiser. We like to include some interaction with the people of one or more villages liberated by the Canadians and aim to include a ceremony and reception with the residents of that village. We do not just attend the wreath-laying ceemonies at the Arc de Triomphe and the Menin Gate but arrange for group members to participate in the ceremonies.
Photo: Laying poppies on a relative's grave |
|
Day 1 CANADA /
PARIS
Meet group at CDG and transfer to Paris hotel.
Afternoon introductory sightseeing tour of Paris.
Day 2
PARIS
We
can either organise sightseeing of your choice in Paris or you can
have a day at leisure to spend how you choose. In the evening
participate in the Ceremony of The Flame.
Day 3
PARIS /ARRAS (2 nights)
Drive
to the Somme area. During our two days in the Somme area we will visit
the main scenes of action involving Canadian forces including
Flers-Courcelette, Thiepval Ridge, Le Transloy Ridge, Regina Trench,
Ancre Heights and the excellent Newfoundland Memorial Park at
Beaumont-Hamel. Our aim is also to arrange an annual event with the
people of a village liberated by the Canadians in 1917 or 1918. We
will also visit the best of the sites not specifically associated with
Canadian forces including Lochnagar Crater and Ulster Tower.
Day 4 SOMME
Day 5 ARRAS –VIMY
– YPRES (3 nights)
We
will make a detailed visit to the memorials and tunnels of the Vimy
Ridge, including a guided visit of the tunnels. If the group includes
a priest or somebody able to conduct it, we will arrange for you to
hold your own service. Your hotel in Ypres is situated in Hooghe,
right on the Menin Road with craters, trenches and a pillbox in the
hotel’s grounds.
Day 6 YPRES
A
full day studying the Canadians’ participation at Ypres including
Hill 60, Tor Top, Sanctuary Wood, Mount Sorrel, Passchendaele, John
MaCrae’s dressing station and the 1916 gas attack. In the evening we
will attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate where two of our
group will lay a wreath.
Day 7 WATERLOO AND MONS
Lion Mound, Quatre Bras (Napoleon’s HQ),
Wellington’s HQ,
Hougoumont Farm at Waterloo,
St.Symphorian
Cemetery (grave of last soldier killed in WWI at 10:59 11/11/1918 who
was Canadian) and monuments where first and last shots were fired at Mons.
Day
8 YPRES – DIEPPE –
NORMANDY (1 night)
En
route to Normandy we will stop at Dieppe where the ill-fated 1942 rate
took place.
Day 9 NORMANDY (1
night on ferry)
The
focus of our sightseeing today will be Juno Beach and the new museum
there. We will also visit a selection of other D-Day-related sites
including Pegasus Bridge and Arromanches before taking the night ferry
to Portsmouth.
Day 10 LONDON
We
will start the day with an introductory sightseeing tour on your own
bus. The remainder of the day and tomorrow we will leave free for you
to choose your own visits. Your tour director will be available to
help.
Day 11 LONDON
Day 12 DEPARTURE
Transfer to Heathrow airport for your return flight
to Canada. We will do our best to incorporate a visit to any graves of importance to individual group participants, depending on their geographical situation.
|