Calais and Dunkirk

Today we drove from Amiens to Brugge

via Calais and Dunkirk.

In 2013 we walked along the white cliffs of Dover

and watched the ferries leave for Calais.

We thought it would be interesting to see them arriving in France.

Calais is the closest French port to England,

just 26 miles away from Dover,

We were surprised to see the vast sandy beach

with double and in some places triple rows

of bathing boxes along the shore.

…......................................................................................

Our arrival in Dunkirk was a bit stressful.

The streets we wanted to drive down were blocked off

and Police were everywhere.

We then found out that a 4 day cycling event

was taking place.

We found a car park and as we walked

toward the beach and were very surprised when a

car came down the street with a person leaning

out the window with a loudspeaker yelling

about something...we couldn't work out

what was going on.

THEN a huge group of cyclists went

whizzing past a la the Tour de France!

They were closely followed by official motorbikes

and support cars. Very snazzy.

We made it to the beach and managed to find the 
sites relating to Operation Dynamo that we were looking for.

The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo,

was the evacuation of Allied soldiers 

from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, 

during WW2, between 26 May and 4 June 1940.

The operation was decided upon when large numbers of British, 

French, Belgian, and Canadian troops were cut off and surrounded 

by the German Army during the Battle of France.

On the first day of the evacuation, only 7,669 men were evacuated,

but by the end of the eighth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers

had been rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over 800 boats.

Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbour's

protective mole onto 39 British destroyers and other large ships,

while others had to wade out from the beaches,

waiting for hours in the shoulder-deep water.

Some were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships

by what came to be known as the little ships of Dunkirk,

a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats,

fishing boats, pleasure craft, and lifeboats

called into service for the emergency.

Result: operation successful.

We arrived in Brugge late this afternoon and

are really looking forward to exploring

this city over the next four days.

First impressions are that it is GORGEOUS.

Today we walked 10 k's