I visited Ypres when staying in Cassel, France, just on the border. My hotel was in the Mont des Chats, just above the village.

Try this website for accomodation http://www.guesthouses.be/ieper/ however my advice is to book as early as you can, Flanders around Armistice day is often booked to the rafters, we go every year to the Menin Gate and we know the area really well now, in fact we will be there next week when we will be visiting Ieper (Ypres) and the grave of Captain Noel Chavass of the R.A.M.C. at Brandhoek Military Cemetry he was a double VC winner during WW1, thank you for caring about the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice of 1918, too many people these days know next to nothing about the Great War, in fact as I type only two British survivors of the conflict remain, Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, two great men who I admire greatley, anything else you want to know about Flanders or indeed WW1 just ask.

Regards
Sliema2

the grave of Captain Noel Chavass of the R.A.M.C. at Brandhoek Military Cemetry he was a double VC winner during WW1,

I know but I thought you might like to interested to know about an example of how soon memories of the WW1 have been allowed to fade. Noel was not only awarded the VC twice but he was also awareded the MC as were three of his brothers, one of whom was his twin Christopher, one of the few army Chaplains to be awarded it. Christopher survived the war, along with his brother Bernard, and became Bishop of Rochester but Aidan, like Noel died in action. Unlike Noel, he has no marked grave as his body was never recovered. Their sisters all trained and served as nursing auxiliaries in France. Their father was Bishop of Liverpool and the whole family was much admired in Liverpool. After WW2 the site of the old Liverpool Custom House, one of the many bombsites from the Blitz was made into a small memorial garden to the family, known as Chavasse Park. However, it was situated in the area which a company belonging to the Duke of Westminster wanted to re-develop as a huge new shopping centre and despite protests from many people they were given permission to do this. In the end it was agreed that they could dig out a huge hole where the garden was, build an underground car park and then simply grass over it. So in future Chavasse Park is less likely to be known as a memorial to a very brave local family and much more as a huge shopping centre with a car park with a turfed roof in the middle of it.

SM

Book asap, accommodation in Ypres and surrounding area will get booked up for Armistice Day and interest is going to be higher this year with it being the 90th anniversary. I'm passionate about History especially WW1 and WW2. I've seen the cemetries and Menin gate a few times. I used to be a member of TOC H (anyone who has studied WW1 seriously or knows a lot about it may well have read about TOC H) and have been to Talbot House a few times, was there 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. The first 3 trips I did included touring the cemetries, very moving. I knew that Noel Chavasse was awarded the Vc twice and the MC but didn't know about his family so to Sma. I saw Noel's grave in Brandhoek Military Cemetry.

Sliema2: I saw Henry Allingham on tv a few weeks back as he's the oldest living person in Europe http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2086501/Henry-Allingham,-Europe's-oldest-man,-celebrates-112th-birthday.html

Hope that works.

Hi Cate,

You might be interested to know that Christopher's son, named Noel after his uncle, served in WW2 were he was also awarded the MC. Also, both Noel and Christopher competed in the 1908 Olympics and were both talented athletes. It seems such a shame that such a talented and brave family should in future have their name associated with of all things a car park in the middle of a shopping mall

SM

Thanks for the advice above. Having spent just about all of the day trawling the internet I've managed to book a 'cheap & cheerful' hotel in Armentieres along with the Dover to Dunkerque ferry for around £200 all in. Mixed reviews around but as a place to use as a base for 3 days will suffice. Also means we should be able to get a visit to Lille in as well.

I recommend that you visit the Arras area - about 90 mins away from Ieper. I can't recommend enough a trip to Vimy Ridge, which is about 10 miles outside the town. On the ridge is the Canadian memorial to the missing - a really sombre yet stunning piece of architecture. Also the ground still bears the scars of the terrific bombardment which preceded the attack at Vimy Ridge in 1917. Further down in the memorial park you can take a guided tour of tunnels that the troops travelled through on the way to the front.
On a slightly more cheerful note, the town of Arras has a beautiful square surrounded by restaurants,
and on Saturday a traditional French market.

Dan

Thanks Dan, may do. We have 3 days.

We'll be spending the 11th in Ieper, 12th doing the cemetries around the area. We still have the 13th to fill (pity it's not a Saturday, we leave Friday).

Since I've also now invested in a decent camera, complete with decent lenses, I need somewhere to practice.