CA War History: The Netherlands & France

The Netherlands & France
In Amsterdam, visit the attic Anne Frank called home for two years before being deported to Auschwitz, and learn about the Canadian efforts during WWII at the National Liberation Museum. Then journey through Flanders to France, and discover how the Royal Regiment of Canada lost about 80% of its troops during the Dieppe disaster. Last but not least, visit Normandy and walk along Juno Beach, stopping to visit the museum dedicated solely to chronicling Canada’s extensive role in WWII.
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Day 1 Overnight flight to the Netherlands
Day 2 Hallo Amsterdam
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Details: Amsterdam canal guided cruise
Canals and crocuses. Bicycles and bluebells. With more canals than Venice (and more flower merchants than perhaps any other city in the world), downtown Amsterdam is an explosion of color and light reflecting off the water. Take a canal boat ride and enjoy the best way to see the gabled houses and nearly 1200 bridges. Note that the cruise may be guided by a local guide or by pre-recorded audioguides.
Day 3 Amsterdam Landmarks
Details: Anne Frank House visit
Take a tour of Anne Frank's house, where three different Jewish families hid for more than two years during World War II and where Anne’s famous diaries were discovered. See where she and her family lived before being betrayed to the Nazi’s and deported to concentration camps.
Details: Rijksmuseum visit
Amsterdam's most popular art museum opened in 1885 to house William V's personal art collection. It now holds an unbelievable collection of Rembrandts, Vermeers, and other Dutch masters, plus an extensive collection of Asian and decorative arts. Upstairs there's a collection of 17th and 18th century dollhouses, furnished just as real houses of the time would have been.
Details: Jewish Historical Museum visit
Situated in the heart of the former Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, the Jewish Historical Museum stands as a symbol of times both troubling and triumphant. Housed in a grand 17th century synagogue complex, the museum documents the 400-year history of the Jewish people in the region. With a permanent collection that includes an 18th century Sephardic Torah Mantle and a carved wood Ark dating from 1791, visitors will be awed and inspired by the various photographs, artworks, interactive displays and other insights into the Jewish way of life.
Details: Traditional Dutch pannenkoeken dinner
Enjoy a traditional Dutch dinner of pannenkoeken, a large thin pancake similar to a crepe, that can be topped with anything from bacon to apples or raisins and finished with a drizzle of stroop, which is a dark thick syrup.
Day 4 Amsterdam--Bruges
Travel to Bruges
Tour Director-led Sightseeing of Bruges
Details: Kamp Vught guided visit
Now a museum and memorial centre, the former Nazi concentration camp known to the Germans as Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch was one of only two concentration camp run in Western Europe by the SS outside of Germany.
Day 5 Bruges--Vimy
Details: Travel to Ypres
Almost destroyed by German shelling during World War I, Ypres rebuilt itself and now stands proudly as a city of peace, along with sister city Hiroshima.
Details: St Julien Memorial
German soldiers fighting on the Western Front first used mustard gas during the Battle of Ypres, and the St Julien Memorial marks the spot where Canadian soldiers first confronted this new weapon of war.
Details: Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood) visit
Before joining the Battle of the Somme, Canadian troops fought hard to defend this area, a small part of Belgium still controlled by the Allies. The advances made by these troops were an unqualified success, according the official British historical reports, but Canada suffered 8,430 casualties in the process.
Details: Passchendaele Canadian Memorial Park
In 1917, the Allies slogged through the swampy, rain-soaked, mud-drenched ground of Passchendaele toward heavily armed German troops, losing many lives and tanks in the process. Canadian troops were brought in at the end due to the difficult conditions -- their earlier victories had conferred an elite status -- and with their efforts the high ground was finally won. The battle was ultimately meaningless, however; the corridor opened by the action later proved unnecessary. Because of the horror of the Battle of Passchendaele, the name has come to symbolize the idea of war in its most brutal and senseless form.
Details: Talbot House Museum
In 1915, this large family home was opened as an “every man’s club,” a place for men of any rank to have some rest and relaxation during the Battle of Ypres. To the Senior Army Chaplain Neville Talbot’s protestations, this club was named after his brother Gilbert who was killed in action in July of 1915.
Day 6 Vimy
Travel to Vimy Ridge
Memorial Museum visit
Details: Tyne Cot National Cemetery
Visit the largest Commonwealth world war cemetery. Almost 12,000 soldiers are buried here, and additional 35,000 names of missing soldiers are inscribed on the back wall. The list of missing continues on the Menin Memorial Gate.
Details: Beaumont Hamel visit
Newfoundland’s most significant single military action was on July 1, 1916 at Beaumont Hamel, at the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The day proved the bloodiest in history for the British army, and caused the greatest military loss in history for Newfoundland. To honour the regiment’s bravery, King George V added “Royal” to the regiment’s name, making it the only regiment in the British Empire to receive such a designation.
Day 7 Vimy--Normandy
Travel to Normandy via Dieppe
Details: Dieppe Canadian landing beach visit
Felled by bad luck and bad timing, the Royal Regiment of Canada lost about 80% of its attacking force to enemy fire and capture on "Blue Beach," in Dieppe. Their mission had been to take out the cliff-top German artillery guarding the beach to allow other Canadian and British forces to land, but their boats were spotted and the men trapped. The military failure led to a push for vast improvements in military communication and tactics later in the war to prevent another such tragedy.
Day 8 Normandy--Paris
Arromanches Mulberry viewing
Travel to Paris
Dinner in Latin Quarter
Details: Juno Beach Centre, park and bunker guided visit
The innovative Juno Beach Centre is one of the first museums dedicated solely to chronicling Canada's extensive role in World War II. The museum takes advantage of its setting near the D-Day Beaches to show visitors how the landings were accomplished, as well as detailing Canada's contributions to the entire war, both at home and abroad.
Details: Canadian Military Cemetery visit at Beny-sur-Mer
Pouring onto the beaches of Normandy, Canada's 3rd Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade represented the entire nation, with regiments from Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec. They secured the beachhead and held on against six days of counterattacks, when more troops were able to come ashore at the secured sight. The Beny-sur-mer Canadian War Cemetery contains more than 2,000 graves of the soldiers from the 3rd Division and the 15 airmen lost during these attacks.
Day 9 Paris Landmarks
Paris guided sightseeing tour
Arc de TriompheChamps-ÉlyséesEiffel TowerLes InvalidesOpera House
Optional  Versailles guided excursion (pre-book only)  $100
State ApartmentsHall of MirrorsGardens of Versailles
Details: Paris guided sightseeing tour
What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).
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Day 10 Flight home from Paris

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    Day 10 Start extension to London
    Details: Eurostar Chunnel crossing
    You're so close, why not continue to London? Take the Eurostar under the English Channel. Faster than you can say...anything, in French, you'll whiz through a tunnel and arrive in London.
    Details: London city walk
    Step outside your hotel for a stroll through the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, royal parks to street art. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques
    Details: Trafalgar Square
    See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.
    Details: National Gallery visit
    Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Botticelli; but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt; and there is also an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne.
    Details: Piccadilly Circus
    Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.
    Details: Covent Garden
    Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
    Details: Leicester Square
    Leicester Square is perfectly situated in the heart of London's West End, with Trafalgar Square to the south, Piccadilly Circus to the west, Covent Garden to the east, and China Town to the north.
    Details: Classic fish & chips dinner
    Nothing's more British than fish and chips-there are eight fish and chips shops ("chippies") for every McDonald's in the county. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.
    Day 11 London Landmarks
    London guided sightseeing tour
    Buckingham PalaceBig BenHouses of ParliamentWestminster AbbeyTower BridgeHyde ParkSt. Paul's Cathedral
    Details: London guided sightseeing tour
    Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of King Charles III) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.
    Details: Imperial War Museum visit
    Explore this unique museum, dedicated to covering conflicts from World War I through the present. Tanks and aircraft, paintings, letters, films, and other exhibits trace the influence of modern war and its effects on our lives.
    Details: Cabinet War Rooms with Churchill Museum visit
    Explore the basement of the Whitehall building that became the air raid shelter and famous cabinet war rooms of Winston Churchill during WWII. See the fully restored Churchill Suite, where the Prime Minister and his wife lived and worked during the air raids on London and learn about the life history of this heroic man, from his childhood, to his finest hour and beyond.
    Day 12 Flight home from London
    The Return to Vimy Ridge 2012: The Netherlands & France Tour Map
    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare
    • 8 overnight stays (10 with extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
    • Full European breakfast daily
    • Dinner daily
    • Full-time services of a professional tour director
    • Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
    • Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
    • Amsterdam canal cruise
    • Tour Diary™
    • Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
    • Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
    • Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.

    We are better able to assist you with a quote for your selected departure date and city over the phone. Please call 1.888.378.8845 to price this tour with your requested options.

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    4501.00 total fee
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