The MesserSmith Adventures

Yesterday evening we went for a pre-prandial promenade along Wissant seafront. It was a beautiful evening, the surf crashing on the rocks and a brisk breeze. Between the tankers, cruise ships, paddle boarder and ferries, we espied the White Cliffs of Dover on the horizon. Oh home sweet home! But not quite yet 😂😂. Before heading back to the bobils, we stopped at a bar for a “coffee”. A dog walked into a bar wearing goggles. No, this is not the beginning of a joke….see surreptitiously obtained photos. A beautiful dog wearing blue swimming goggles. Between Tina Turner and Biggles we have seen some very unusual canines over the last couple of days. This morning we made our way to Auchan to top up on food and wine, and Decathlon for some swimming trunks for Richard, plus some fleeces, jumpers and a towelling turban-type head thingie to dry your hair after a shower, as recommended by Lynn. We lunched on frites from the famous Friterie in the car park outside Auchan before continuing on to ...

Monday evening at the Menin Gate, Ypres, was very moving. We did the 10 minute walk from the campsite, taking the pathway that ran along the city walls until we reached the monument. A small crowd had already gathered by 7.30 when we arrived there, to await the evening’s ceremony…and Richard and I spotted someone we knew! A lovely gentleman called Alan Reed, who is a historian with a  vast knowledge of the battlefield sites of France and Belgium, was there with a group of people he was guiding. He, along with his colleague Andrew Hamilton, have written several books about World War 1 which, as some of you reading this may remember, I have had the pleasure of producing and publishing. If you are interested in looking, there is a website www.meetatdawnunarmed.co.uk which gives the background and more information on their very interesting and readable books (no dry historical tomes here!). Alan gave us the run-down on the evening’s itinerary which included several blind ex-servicemen ...