Travel for the elderly

I am 80 years of age and contemplating visiting Etaples Cemetery during May or June 2008. Are there any fully escorted tours for the elderly to this area of France?

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Etaples (the largest commonwealth cemetery in France) is easily accessed if this is your concern it is right on a main road and parking is directly outside, no fields or tracks to encounter.

Then (I can%26#39;t remember exactly) but perhaps a dozen steps (not steep) takes you to the entrance and the high point of the cemetery where all the graves can be observed and then if you want down the other side (I think maybe a few more steps down that it was up) into the actual cemetery and gardens.

Regarding tours I%26#39;ve lived here nearly 20 years and haven%26#39;t heard of any, the reason probably is there wasn%26#39;t any %26quot;action%26quot; around there, as you know it was the base camp during WWI for our boys as they arrived in France and had large hospital facilities located here too, the hospital facilities were replicated in WWII also hence the large number of graves.

Maybe the Tourist Office knows of tours? (contact@etaples-tourisme.com) but there isn’t a lot else of military importance in the close proximity.

I live very close and if you want I can e-mail you some photos showing access if this is a worry of yours, just send me an address to (pricealan@wanadoo.fr) and I’ll forward you some pictures.

Tours are widely available on the Somme and at Ypres for WWI battlefields and not to be missed in my opinion (although access to some locations maybe tough going) they can tailor certain parts to incorporate particular interests if you advise in advance.

Tours of the WWI sites are done in mini buses about 9 seats and last either an afternoon or morning or full day dependant on your choice of tour. The number of stops are perhaps a dozen, some you just drive up alongside stop and the guide gives a chat, others are cemeteries so you choise whether you go in or just look over the wall.

I%26#39;ve done this tour on 3 occasions and can only think of two places that may cause problems;

1) Sheffield Park at Serre on the Somme maybe a bit too much dependent on how far the van gets down the lane, but you can just sit that one out.

2) Newfoundland Park is a fair walk around preserved trenches but it has an excellent obseravtion platform about 400 yards from the car park, so no need to do the trench bit.

There are many tours further down in Normandy that cover the WWII theatre.

If I can assist any more just shout

Regards

Alan

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