Photobear

When I was last in France as a teenager (about 18 years ago), we went to the Vimi Monument for fallen Canadian Soldiers. My husband would love to see that and other places to learn more about D-Day.

I have seen a lot of Day trips bus tours that go to a lot of sites but I can't find one that goes to the Vimi Monument...Can you help me find one?

Thanks

grandmere

www.battlebus.fr might be a helpful resource. We took one of their tours, and were very impressed with it.

flanneruk

The Vimy Memorial is at Vimy Ridge, several hours' drive north east from Normandy.

It has nothing to do with D-Day (a series of battles in a war Canada fought from 1939 to 1945).

The Vimy Memorial commemorates the Canadians killed, or presumed killed, in France during World War 1: a war Canada fought from 1914 to 1918.

I'm not aware of any short bus trips that visit Canadian sites relating to both these wars.

AnselmAdorne

Photobear, the Canadian department of veteran's affairs provides a lot of background on Canada's war memorials, including directions on how to get there.

Here's a link to their suggestions for visiting Vimy:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2o5z98

As flanneuruk points out, the monument at Vimy is dedicated to those who died in the Great War.

Anselm

AnselmAdorne

flanneruk, I just spelled your name incorrectly. Sorry.

AA

Sue_xx_yy

There are tours that visit the Vimy Ridge memorial, but they tend to be tours of the Western front of WWI in general and thus last more than a day or half-day. If you google on 'WWI tours' you will run into a few sites that sell such tours. I have no personal experience of any of these tours, so cannot vouch for them.

Having just returned from the area, I can tell you that (free) tours of the mine tunnels of Vimy Ridge begin May 10 (and not 1 May as implied by the government website provided by Anselm.) Also, these are 'on-site' tours and do not include transportation to and from the site, nor do they include transportation from the Memorial centre to the memorial itself (the site is huge, it is quite a hike between the various aspects of it and in fact one would do well to be prepared to either drive or bike the site.)

I'll include more details in my trip report, as soon as the dog stops eating the drafts thereof......

Photobear

Thanks all...

I guess it just proves that I was only paying attention to hot French young Men when I visited when I was 17...LOL

We had less than an hour to visit and I had food poisoning. I don't remember much.

Thank you all for the info. From what my husband has told me, he is more interested in D-Day than WW1. I was the one who gave him bad info on Vimy.

I will look at getting a trip to Canadian D-Day sites so he can learn more.

Also, he is looking for Aircraft Museums. Are there any around that we should know about?

gradyghost

Hello PB:

Suggest that you contact Roel at Victory Tours. If you engage him for a personally guided tour, he will take you anywhere you wish. He is a real student of D-Day and a delightful person. Gradyghost

laverendrye

Photobear: I urge you and your husband to take the time to visit Vimy. It is a place that every Canadian should visit at least once (and in your case twice, as you likely didn't have a chance to appreciate it in your one hour visit while stricken with food poisoning). If you have a car, it's easy to reach, but even without one, the directions in the VAC site given by Anselme for train and taxi are quite workable. Once again, don't miss this magnificent memorial if you have the chance, especially now that it has just been restored after years of work.

Now to Normandy. As Canadians, you will not want to miss Juno Beach and the Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer.

http://www.junobeach.org/Centre/index.html

Don't forget the other places as well, including Arromanches, the battery at Longues-sur-Mer and Omaha Beach withe the American Cemetery.

You don't say how long you will be there, but I would certainly recommend two days to take in just the D-Day sites.

If you are looking for a tour, Battlebus would be my recommendation, as they have a one day Canadian tour:

http://www.battlebus.fr/tours/index_fichiers/juno.htm

You should also not miss the Memorial Museum in Caen. A good option here would be their one-day package which includes a visit to the Memorial and a tour of the beaches, which would give you a good overview.

http://www.memorial-caen.fr/portail/...n/circuits.asp

I'm not aware of any aviation museums as such in Normandy, but many of the museums such as the Pegasus Airborne museum do have some aircraft.