Day 100 – to Gravelines

Two driving stints split by taking the Tyne Cot walking route at Passchendaele. The

Bornem was an excellent stop, and one I will certainly use again. It’s a small town, but several vibrant pubs. I visited two, both of them very friendly, and no surprise, tremendous beers.

It was the All Saints Day holiday in Belgium and France today, so I got to the Carrefour supermarket before it closed at lunchtime. It is the only one of the supermarkets that opens today, somewhat controversially so. The price of the Belgian beer remains much cheaper than the UK, so I stocked up for the next three months.

A clear day; November and it was 20C at midday, with a strong wind that felt as if there was a heater blowing at times.

I was keen to visit the Ypres region, and chose one of the less busy cemeteries and visitors’ centres at Tyne Cot. It was just over an hour’s drive away. Here, at the third battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele around half a million were killed between July and November of 1917. There are smaller cemeteries pretty much everywhere. It’s difficult to imagine living amongst them as local residents do. They just become part of everyday life. There were a couple of school groups at the cemetery when I returned from the two hour marked trail that takes in several significant sites, though I saw no one else on the trail.

Another hour on and I was at Gravelines. There’s an ‘aire’ here at the water sports centre just out of town. It’s the best stopover place close to the Eurotunnel terminal I know. It’s quiet, away from the big roads and houses, and a half hour drive to the terminal. It suits me to take an early train in the morning, getting into Folkestone just before 8 am, as that gives a good chance of a uninterrupted drive up through England.