Went to France, Belgium and the Netherlands on a battlefield pilgrimage.
Will return but I don't plan on spending as much time exploring trenches and bunkers. It really cuts into museum time and drinking.
Bayeux = fun for being so close to all the beaches
Dieppe = Beautiful but very eery to walk in places where so much blood was spilled in 1943 (the Polish need a better memorial on the boardwalk)
Ypres = amazing, except for incredibly shitty customer service almost everywhere that I went (except Les Halles, it was an awesome bar full of drunk Welshmen and hot women)
AND...
Flushing/ Vlissingen = crazy fun town, good bars (Speyk I love you) and great food. It was awesome to get a real cup of coffee but it was even better to come home and drink the real stuff for a change.
I don't understand some things that you Euro's do though...
1) Why do French dudes not wash their hands after using the bathroom and why do people insist on shitting in the urinals there?
2) Large cup of coffee, nuff said
3) Can anyone in Western Europe make a hamburger to save their lives? Ypres burger was the closest facsimile that I could find but McDonald's was still better.
4) Why is your beer so cheap? Except for Le Curling in Dieppe, everywhere that I went to charged the same price for water as they did for beer.
Highlights:
Vimy Ridge and Beaumont-Hamel memorials
Severloh's position at Omaha beach (well preserved and fun to explore every bunker)
Bunker group photo in Dieppe, then a chance meeting with the son of the local Maquis commander (he showed us the old tunnel access from his house into the cliffs)
Meninpoort ceremony in Ypres, I got to parade in honour of my fallen countrymen and knocked back free drinks for the rest of the night courtesy of the South Wales Borderers
Uncle beach dedication in Flushing (Spitfire flypast, Dutch Marine landing demonstrations, met many veteran's)
Middelburg town hall, I played a short set in the top floor reception hall and spent the rest of the day drinking beer and hanging out with people from the "Keep them Rolling" vehicle association.
And most notably, thank you Dutchie's for the amazing hospitality and the next time we go as a group, We plan on giving out 20 000 poppies instead of the measly 10 000 that we had on hand.
Special mention to the Belgian's for creating the world's best beers, you should consider exporting them one of these days because it beats the pants off almost anything that I can find in Vancouver.
