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BATTLES FOR FRANCE
D-Day Beaches, Western Front, Agincourt
5 days / 4 nights - Monday to Friday
DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR YEAR 2008
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Tour Code
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Depart Lille
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Return Lille
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DD
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Monday
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Friday
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DD 01
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02 Jun
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06 Jun
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DD 02
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18 Aug
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22 Aug
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DD 03
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06 Oct
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10 Oct
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Price: GBP £735 pp twin share Single Supplement: GBP £95
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What your tour price includes
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Accommodation for 4 nights while on the tour is included in your tour price, and this includes both Continental breakfasts and dinners
All entrance fees to attractions, transportation, return London/Liile by road or rail, services of driver/guide-companion and all taxes and tips other than those you may wish to give your guide
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| TENTATIVE ITINERARY |
NIGHTSTOP
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DAY ONE - MONDAY
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We depart from Lille at 10.00, having collected both those who are arriving by train this morning on the Eurostar from London, and those who are staying with us after our Great War weekend.
First, to the Dunkirk beaches and surroundings studying the 'miracle' of the withdrawal, seeing the famous mole and the area of Dunes where the 'small ships' came to prominence. You'll also study the fighting in and around Calais, the 'Last Stand' and Green Jackets Memorial which stands at the entrance to Calais harbour. You'll also be seeing sites such as the Citadel, Fort Neuilly, the Cathedral Bunker and nearby Fort Lapin that features in the battles of Boulogne. Finally, Griz Nez, the museum at Todt Battery with its immense Railway Gun and the V3 London Cannon site at Mimoyecques round off our griping day before we follow the Atlantic Wall to Dieppe.
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near Dieppe
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DAY TWO - TUESDAY
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We'll begin today with visit sites connected with the Dieppe landings of 1942 where Canadian Infantry, British Commandos and American Rangers were badly mauled in an early attempt at a coastal invasion. The Canadian Museum at Dieppe and the site of the commando landings will be highlights.
We then continue to the first of the Normandy Beaches. We spend a day covering various British and Commonwealth landing and dropping zones, visiting Arromanches, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches and following the advance inland. We also visit Bayeux Cemetery and Museum, Pegasus Bridge, Cafe Gondree (first house liberated), Ranville, Merville Battery, Troarn Bridge and many other places of interest, including Divisional and Unit Memorials. The length of time we spend at each site will vary according to the nationality and interest of those on board the tour.
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Bayeux
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DAY THREE - WEDNESDAY
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| We spend a day covering the American involvement, visiting Utah and 'Bloody' Omaha Beaches, Ste. Mere Eglise (with its famous church on which US paratrooper John Steele landed), Pont Du Hoc (where Col. James Rudder and his Rangers scaled the sheer cliffs) and the very poignant American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. We also cover part of the advance from the beaches, through the Normandy bocage including Operation Epsom. |
Bayeux
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DAY FOUR - THURSDAY
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| We use this morning to 'mop up' beach and bocage sites that we may not yet have had the time to visit such as the Musée de la Poche de Falaise (Falaise Gap). We depart Normandy and drive through Picardie. Our first stop today will be in mediaeval Rouen, city of Joan d'Arc. 'Cry God for Harry and England and bring on the dogs of war!' Agincourt, one of the greatest of all medieval battles, fought between the English and French forces, will be our next focal point. It was here that the long bow came into its own for the first time and made all the difference. Even though this battle took place nearly 600 years ago, you can still feel the chill of the atmosphere and feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you hear tales of both bravery and massacre. |
Arras
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DAY FIVE - FRIDAY
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| We step into the Great War today, though we will see an important WW2 Resistance memorial in Arras first. Our main focus will be on the 1917 Battle of Arras and particularly Vimy Ridge - a name that is writ large in Canadian history. The underground tunnels that you'll visit here are not easily forgotten. Those who have been with us on the earlier Great War weekend tours will be taken to visit the French National Ossary of Lorette de Notre Dame and see an excellent Great War museum.
This afternoon we follow the Trench lines, seeing sites connected with the Loos battlefield, stopping at the important Australian site of Fromelles and seeing where Adolf Hitler served and was billeted when stationed here in the 1914-18 war.
Finally, subject to time, we'll discover some of the huge gun emplacements that protects the range of hills dividing France and Belgium before returning to Lille.
Tour participants may either catch the train back to London or Paris, or stay overnight in Lille and join our following day out to the incredible day tour of the Great War battlefields of the Ypres Salient.
Extensions possible for those wanting to extend the tour by overnight in Lille.
Go back to Battlefields Tours
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