Day 1 - Lille to Ieper (Ypres)

Day 1 Lille - Ieper - Passchendaele - Tyne Cot - Zonnebeke - Hill 61 - Cloth Hall - Menin Gate

Drove away from Lille around 10am, heading north, gradually getting more and more lost in Lille suburbs until we switched on French sat-nav.  We wanted to go through Marcq-en-Barceul and then via Menen (Menin) to get onto rural roads via Moorslede to Passendale (Passchendael) and Tyne Cot.  Somewhere on the outskirts of Lille I felt the call of nature but finding a public toilet in France or Belgium is always a bit of a problem when driving.  We called in to a garage (in Australia garages always have toilets) who directed us to a garden centre down the road, who of course required a few Euro-cents for the privilege of using their toilets (always carry a lot of change for toilets!).  We stopped at Tyne Cot at around 12pm to view the display and walk around this enormous cemetery. Parking was at a premium but we squeezed in to the free car park.  We were too overcome by the enormity of what we were about to experience over the next few days to take any pictures at Tyne Cot itself. We then drove on to Zonnebeke Museum (Zonnebeke Chateau) which was beautiful grounds and quite a good recreated trench system and museum.

Re-created officer's dug-out at Zonnebeke Museum

We spent about an hour there before going on to Hill 60 and Caterpillar Craters.

Re-purposed German pill-box at Hill 60

Caterpillar Crater, near Hill 60

After walking around the craters we drove into Ieper via the Menin Gate and found somewhere to park and were checked in to our hotel by 3.45pm.  We walked the short distance to the magnificent Cloth Hall and the In Flanders Fields Museum inside.  The last entry was at 5pm and the museum closed at 6pm, which was just sufficient time for us to view all the exhibits.  Some excellent archival film, along with sound effects, and a wealth of information on the tragic impact of the war.  The Great Market Square was busy and as we wanted to be early to the Menin Gate to get a reasonable position to view the ceremony we headed down there shortly after 7pm by which time a sizeable crowd had already formed.  Unknown to us there was a special ceremony planned, honouring the Scottish Black Watch, so an even bigger crowd but compensated by their pipe band, and a terrific choir singing Danny Boy, which brought us to tears.   

You could feel the ghosts of soldiers as they marched out through the Gate, probably to their death in the ghastly killing fields.

The Last Post ceremony at 8pm followed, and then after taking some photos we walked along to the De Reyffelaer Restaurant for our 8.30pm booking for dinner.  After dinner we strolled the streets around the Cloth Hall, taking in the various monuments and impressive buildings.

Ieper Cloth Hall at night

Ieper war memorial