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| leaving Ypres through the Menin Gate |
From Ypres it was a short drive back into France and soon the old city of Dunkerque and the distance water of the Pas de Calais could be seen. We had decided to spend the better part of the morning here, the weather lovely and the smell of the sea refreshing. We parked downtown near the old belfry and walked along the quai past the port museum and a majestic schooner Duchesse Anne and an old WWII lightship, the Sandettie. A paddle steamer, the Princess Elizabeth, that had taken part in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of The British Expeditionary Force and French troops from the advancing German army, was here as well but was not open to the public unfortunately. We continued on to the Memorial du Souvenir War Museum located in the old fortifications built in 1874 to reinforce France's coastal defence. Of course this museum concentrated on the evacuation of the 338,000 soldiers back to England,and was full of uniforms and weapons recovered from this time. But you can't go to Dunkerque without strolling along the 'plage' and when we got there the tide was out and the beach stretched out for hundreds of yards to the water. We picked up a few shells as we do wherever we go and after a quick lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches in the car that Marie had made before leaving Belgium, we set off for Calais, 15 minutes down the road.
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| just outside Ypres, Belgium |
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| Dunkerque |
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| Dunkerque quai |
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| "Princess Elizabeth" Dunkerque |
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| Low tide, Dunkerque |
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| we wished we could have traded in our Toyota for this 2CV |
Calais was our final destination on continental Europe and it was here we would be returning our rental car that had taken us over 1200 kilometres from Menton on the French Riviera. But first we had to find our hotel and then take a last drive out along the shore road east through the village of Sangatte to Cap Blanc Nez. Here from the top of the cliffs there is usually a nice view of the Staits of Dover and England. But today was warm and hazy and we could barely see back toward Calais. There were hordes of people here admiring the scenery and even more coming up the road when we drove back toward town. We pulled of to the side of the road by the water and walked down to the rocky beach for half an hour and then headed back into town for supper. We spent our last night in France at our hotel, the Richelieu, and were off early the next morning for the Port to return the car and board our P&O ferry to England. I had had a wonderful time in France and hoped England would rekindle just as many good memories as well in the coming days.
gws
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| Cap Blanc Nez and Obelesque |
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| View from Cap Blanc Nez |
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| English Channel and German pillbox |
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| Beffroi, Hotel de Ville, Calais |
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| Hotel Richelieu |
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| beach near Calais |
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| Calais, saying goodbye to our Yaris |
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| Auguste Rodin's The Burghers of Calais |
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| picking up tickets Calais to Dover on P&O ferry |
