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BATTLES FOR FRANCE
D-Day Beaches, Western Front, Agincourt
5 days / 4 nights - Monday to Friday

Visit the Army Museum, ChelseaThis is a superb five-day tour for those who want to see where some of the most seminal events of the 20th century were played out. Our tour encompasses both wars but with the greater emphasis on World War II. We've tried to make it as comprehensive an overview as is possible in the time we've allotted. It includes sites evocative of the Dunkerque evacuation, the Atlantic Wall fortifications, the Dieppe raid, and, of course, Normandy Beaches.

We touch briefly on the Great War, as it helps explain the following conflict, especially where there is regional overlap covering the wars. Major site such as Vimy Ridge and the Lens battlefields are seen, as well as where Adolf Hitler served. And finally, for good measure, we include an earlier war that scarred these fields - the 1415 Battle of Agincourt.

DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR YEAR 2008

Tour Code

Depart Lille

Return Lille

DD

Monday

Friday

DD 01
02 Jun
06 Jun
DD 02
18 Aug
22 Aug
DD 03
06 Oct
10 Oct

Price:   GBP £735 pp twin share     Single Supplement:  GBP £95

What your tour price includes
  • Your accommodation for 4 nights while on the tour is included in your tour price, and this includes both Continental breakfasts and dinners
  • Your price also includes 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
  • Airport transfers and accommodation pre and post tour are not included but can be reserved at a specially discounted price

Click here to work out prices in other currencies http://www.xe.com/ucc/

For what is included/excluded in your tour price, see Tour Inclusions
Contact res@backroadstouring.co.uk, fax 00 44 20 8566 5457

TENTATIVE ITINERARY

NIGHTSTOP

DAY ONE - MONDAY

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.

near Dieppe

DAY TWO - TUESDAY

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.

Bayeux

DAY THREE - WEDNESDAY

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
DAY FOUR - THURSDAY
  
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
DAY FIVE - FRIDAY
  
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.

If wanting to overnight at Lille, add £50/£65 to your tour cost (twin share/single). Dinner is not included.

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