This morning James, Davie, Chanel and I boarded our 10.35 flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. We flew over London (but more to the west than Ally and Cat’s flat in Limehouse) and then passed over a long sandy beach with white capped waves and over the Channel. It wasn’t long before we started descending to Paris. After the usual footering about collecting our luggage and hire car (a smart BMW 3 series) we set off northwards towards Ypres. We stopped at Fins New British Cemetery north of the Somme to pay our respects to James’ Great Uncle Hugh and all of the other young British and German soldiers who are buried there. Then we drove the short distance to the St Quentin Canal at Honnecourt sur l’Escaut, where Hugh was wounded a couple of weeks before he died in a field hospital in October 2018. It’s James’ and my fourth visit to the 1st World War battlefields of France and Belgium, David’s second visit * and Chanel’s first (although she has visited Belgium before, with her Dad.) Our first visit was in 2009 with Ally and Davie (Jamie was already at university so could not accompany us.) We have visited with Heather and Ewan in 2018, with Ally and Cat in 2019, and we are keen to hand on the baton of the family history to our children and their partners. We are so lucky that they are all interested in History.
Onwards another hour and a half to Ypres, we were all excited when we crossed the Belgian border. Ypres is as pretty as ever despite the damp weather; we are pleased with the smart and well appointed Ariane Hotel, and after checking in we went out for a tasty dinner at In’t Klein Stadhuis which is tucked into the corner of the village square beside the Cloth Hall. My cheese croquettes were delicious and I am assured by my three fellow travellers that the Flemish stew was excellent.
* David and I also visited Ypres very briefly with the Duncanrig music department in 2013.
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