Overland to visit The Great Escape Museum in Poland

[XCovlov70]

Overland to visit Stalag Luft III.

Now known as The Great Escape Museum

Hello Folks!

YES! We are off again……

I’m told while I have itchy feet, ‘Flamenco Red’ just loves the open road!

So………

With all the celebrations along with all the acts of remembrance that have happened and continue in relation to both World Wars in Europe we decided to head for a specific place on our next trip into Europe and came up with going to see the place in Poland where ‘The Great Escape’ took place.

Some of you (Like ME!) might even remember the film of the same name as it has been repeated on TV innumerable times!
You who do remember will picture Steve McQueen who was supposed to have jumped over the barbed wire at the border after making good his escape from the POW Camp on a stolen Motorcycle?

Well the truth was, he didn’t and the barbed wire in the film that he allegedly went over on the Motorcycle was made of rubber, but after those small points, we will be stopping at a few other interesting places along the way so come back and see the pictures if you want.

As we travel over you are more than welcome to ‘Come and join us’ in the Third Seat of ‘Flamenco Red’ for what we hope will be an interesting tour!

Meanwhile as we get ready and set off on the trip here are a couple of links if you are interested in any of the information about the actual Great Escape from Stalag Luft III….

With thanks to Rob Davis, in Telford, Shropshire UK for the following link.
http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gt_esc/

Also thanks to Squadron Leader Alfie Fripp’s website and this link.
http://therealgreatescape.com/stalag...-great-escape/

Meanwhile as we get ready for the ‘OFF’!!

Here is our Route to get there and back, while this time we are travelling in an Anti-clockwise direction….

Well it makes a change going the other way round to always ‘following the way the clock goes!’



Welcome aboard and Buckle Up as I don’t want the unfastened seat belts BLARING out their warning tones…….
Thank you!

Next stop Eurotunnel…..

[ssicarman]

Looks like it will be an interesting trip. Looking forward to it.

[XCovlov70]

Looks like it will be an interesting trip. Looking forward to it.

Hi ssicarman!

I thought you would think that, and I hope so after doing the research and planning the places we have identified into the trip!

So that makes at least 3 of us!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to visit Stalag Luft III.

As we will be travelling along the same roads across Wales & England to get to the Train that goes through that ‘Long Tube’ under the English Channel I will not bore you with the same pictures we have used before unless we spot something different!

Our plan for the first night after we got to France is to head for Camping St Louis (GPS Co-ords 50.83807 N 1.97637 E) which is an ACSI Camping Card Campsite, while we arrived in the dark I will get a couple of pictures before we set off the following morning!

Meanwhile as we head off out of Wales we see all the cars & trucks queuing up to pay to get in at the Toll Booths!

We will also have that chore when we return…..


Over the Second Severn Crossing and out of Wales we go while we get a view of the type of weather we have seen so far today…..


Now crossing the Border and into England…..


As there was not a lot happening on the route down here and we found the traffic quite light on the Motorways for a Sunday it wasn’t long before we arrived at…..


As we then came up to the Check in Gates we found that as we were rather early Eurotunnel gave us two options.
Pay an additional £245 ($343) to take the next train of wait for another train which was 1 hour before our booked departure for £0!
So as we had a few things to sort out we opted for a Coffee and the £0 Extra Fare for our trip under the water…..


Sounds like a Plan….


Time to catch up with a few messages and re-set the headlights for Left Hand Driving!


As time for Boarding rolled up it was around to Passport Control on the English side then pass through the French side at which point you are technically in….


Then around 50 minutes later you are out of the train and off on the French Autoroute, well at least the Free bit towards the campsite…..


As we pass on the normal road this rather ‘Fairy Castle’ style house….


While on the other side of the road was this small Windmill….


While 2 miles further on we arrived at Camping St Louis but the daylight was slipping away as it also started to rain, as we got onto our pitch for the night, so pictures tomorrow as we put together some dinner being rather hungry after a long day!
Good night!

[Da Tow'd]

Good to be back on the road with you folks again.
cheers
Hank

[XCovlov70]

Good to be back on the road with you folks again.
cheers
Hank

Welcome back, and we hope you enjoy the trip.

[XCovlov70]

Overland to visit Stalag Luft III.

Before we make our way on the next stage after our night at Camping St Louis here are a couple of pictures of the campsite….






After a nice breakfast it was back on the road…….

And there are Windmills in France!


And narrow roads…..


A Mine Bogie….


The Slag heaps from one of the Mines and there were a few as we travelled along….


Fishing Boat but it’s a fair way to the Sea!


Well we are also in Farming Country!


A very tall Radio Mast…..


The Circus has come to this small town and the animals are allowed out to munch the grass…..


Brightly painted statue of a French Soldier on a monument….


As we come into the village of…..


We see this badly damaged church from the Battle of the Somme….


While a bit further along the road is this brightly painted Water Tower!


As we then arrived in a town called Albert and the next campsite which is called Le Velodrome (GPS 50.01140 N 2.65571 E). This is also an ACSI Camping Card Campsite






We had been told about a 1914 – 1918 War Memorial near Albert that was much larger than the Menin Gate at Ypres and so having got the TinTent set up and had a bit of lunch we set off to go and have a look even though it had started to rain….

So it was off through the town and off along a bit of country road to get there




As we turned left in front of this church it looked a bit like an Apollo Rocket…


A very large Equestrian centre….


While you can also follow the ‘Poppy Tour’ signs on the roads to get to various monuments and Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites ….


Ornate church on the roadside….


Then as we came around the next bend going up the hill the Thiepval Memorial came into view…






The Museum Entrance which is going through a major extension as well as a face lift on the Memorial…..






The entrance to the Video Theatre in the Museum…..


As we then made our way in the rain to the Memorial but due to the work going on we could not get very close…


While the zoom on the camera allowed me to find the names of some of the missing men….


The graves of unknown French soldiers, which was interesting as their regiment was also not identified….


On a good day this would be a really view out past the cross….


As we came away from the memorial on the road back to Albert we saw this other memorial which we think was possibly to the Miners of the area….


We then got into the centre of Albert we see the Marie (Town Hall)…


Then spot Charlie Chaplin outside the Corner Pub…..


Followed by some rather good sculptures of the Soldiers who took part in the Battle of the Somme…












As we then made our way over to the Cathedral…


Then inside….










As we came out of the Cathedral and made our way back to the campsite TomTom got slightly confused and tried to take us up a 1 way road the wrong way!

Then having sorted that out we found ourselves going down this road which was rather nice with the Flower Baskets hanging on one side of the road while the lights were on the other. At least they didn’t need watering with all this rain!


In reading some information after our visit to the Thiepval Memorial we learned that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cares for the graves and memorials of almost:

1.7 MILLION servicemen & women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars
While the graves and memorials are in 23000 locations
Those locations are spread across 153 Countries around the World

Back on the road again tomorrow, but we are keeping our fingers crossed as the Weather Forecast is saying SNOW!

[XCovlov70]

Overland to visit Stalag Luft III.

Our next stage was a rather long one from Albert to Luxembourg, going across country as the alternative was around 50% longer from the original route calculated by our TomTom, but we also wanted to call into Dun Sur Messe to visit some friends….

So off we went back out via the town centre and getting the One Way System correct to allow us to do it!…


Then it was on the ‘cross country roads’ with thankfully very little traffic as they are not that wide….










The ‘Pink’ Marie…..


Interesting ‘Church Spire’!


As my good lady zoomed in with the camera it looked like the Church Mice had attacked it as it was full of holes…..








A lot of the fields as we went along painted a nice contract with the Yellow colour of the Rape Seed that was being grown….


This signpost ‘Chemin des Dames’ (Path of the Ladies) is in the area of the Aisne Ridge which was quarried for stone for centuries and left a warren of caves and tunnels which were used by the German troops as shelters to escape the French bombardment during the second battle of the Aisne…


Don’t often see a Farm with a Helicopter on it’s pad!




As we went past various War Memorials we noticed a number of coaches with parties of school children looking around the places, while we also passed a lot of Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries as we went across the Somme Valley….










Thought for a minute we had taken a wrong turn as this man looked like he was dealing with a Nuclear ‘problem’, but then it was possibly a suit for spraying insecticide in the garden…..








A rather nice house that had recently been gutted by fire, which seems to be a common problem over here….


















As we finally come into…..






After spending time with our friends including a very nice dinner at a local hostelry and a rather cold night in the ‘TinTent’ we set off the following morning to complete the run to Luxembourg on a damp, dull day with the promise of SNOW along the way and at the destination!….


The exercise compound at a detention centre just outside a town called Montmédy which was on the other side of the road to the detention centre while the razor wire around the top was significant…..


While just after we croosed over the Border into Belgium….


As we then saw this cart full of wood it should have provided a clue as to what was up ahead!.....


Looking up at the side of the road we could see logs of wood stretching for around 800 yards as we passed alongside….


While in front were these two ‘Man made hills’ and lots of Steam from an absolutely huge factory….


The factory produces ‘Wood Chips’ from logs of wood, while on the other side of the two huge mounds of wood chips was another part of the factory also covered in steam that produces ‘Chip Board’ for other various industried like Furniture manufacture….




A little further on and we see the result of a recent SNOW fall as the trees have got a white coating on their branches!....


The we turn onto a National Route and come to the unmanned Belgian – Luxembourg Border Crossing as we run into the rain….


Then it was over the border as the rain gets heavier…..


Off the National Route and onto the smaller roads and not far to our next campsite…..








Finally arriving at Camping Bon Accueil (GPS 49.569166 N 6.159999 E) which is also an ACSI campsite and quite a nice one….


As we just made it to check in as the reception closes at 11:00 till 14:00, we completed the process and got onto the pitch to be met by a new dump of SNOW with some pretty large flakes coming down and a temperature of 2C!

Rather glad I put my Thermals on this morning as the forecast said it would feel like -1C and they were right for once!

We are hoping to take a trip once again into Luxembourg tomorrow if the weather is OK….

[XCovlov70]

Overland to visit Stalag Luft III.

Our day in Luxembourg….

Yesterday after arriving we went out for what was a very short walk as the heavens opened up and that ‘Overhead Sprinkler System’ dropped rainwater with quite some force as well as Hailstones & would you believe it Snow!

But we managed to see this nice flower display in front of the locality Town Hall…


Then a few yards further on we spotted this rather ominous dark cloud with another dump of Hailstones and Snow…….


After heading back to the campsite and ‘Hibernating’ for the rest of the day and night we woke up to a foggy morning and the results of the dropping temperature and the Hailstones & Snow that had stayed around last night….


I could not have moulded this if I had tried, as the Hailstones had bonded to the windscreen wiper blade!


After looking at the weather forecast which said rain in the afternoon we took a chance as it hasn’t been correct so far and caught a bus for €2 into the centre of Luxembourg, and having then headed for the shopping area initially we though we had found the guys responsible for making all the FOG!

They were actually cleaning the pedestrian area with steam guns…..


While the view of the Vallée de la Pétrusse looks very green with all the trees…


As the Bankenmuseum rises above the trees on the opposite side of the Vallée…


Right on the side of the Vallée at a place called Place de la Constitution a small Fairground has been allowed to set up camp….




While getting through the maze of Fairground Stalls to take a look at the Garden below was a challenge, but we eventually made it, and it looked really nice considering the weather….



Then walking a bit further on we spot the Cherry Blossom which also looked very nice but not quite as good as what we saw in Washington DC a few years ago, which was I have to say spectacular…..


‘The Powers at B’ are currently working on the Adolphe Bridge which is one of THE main routes into the city centre….


Meanwhile a temporary bridge has been built to continue to allow traffic and pedestrians to travel from one side of the Vallée to the other.
When I looked closely at the ‘Expansion Joint’ on the temporary bridge it brought it home how cold it is over here at the moment as there was a gap of at least 2 inches (50mm) between the metal ‘Teeth’ shaped like the mouth of a Crocodile!


A better view of the Bankenmuseum….


This building is identified as Arclor Mittal who were the biggest steel company in the world at once time, while the former owner was a company called ARBED which is still found engraved above the doorway….


Next along the road was ‘The Rose Garden’……


No roses showing yet but all the rose trees were named Queen Elisabeth….


We then came into the Railway Station, mainly to try and warm up and get out of the showers…..


While inside was this solitary stained glass window which looked better with the naked eye than a camera lens…..


As I managed to ‘Spot a Train’ before the heavens opened up once again, and being very cold on a not very nice day to go sightseeing we decided that enough was enough and headed back to the campsite on the next bus!...


Back on the road tomorrow and into Germany, to a campsite which when I found it on the Internet made me chuckle, but more of that tomorrow…..

[ssicarman]

The weather is yet again disliking you. Hope it improves. A nice mix of scenery. Looks like I have another area to add onto the bucket list.