Acaciahotel Ypres

... else trying to find out if they're British as well (hey, that's me!), and look quite defensive when somebody else sits next to them (hey, that's me as well!). They then get out an English book and try to look very superior because they speak another language. (I do that sometimes.)<br>A lot of French people, particularly early in the morning, sit down and close their eyes and somehow magically wake up when it's their stop and run off the train. I don't know how they can do that ...

... today to buy my week's fruit and veg and some pastries! <br><br>I also went with my parents to the "Jardin des Plantes", which is a kind of botanical garden and is absolutely beautiful. The guide book says "it is worth a visit just for the smell of the roses", however unfortunately there were no roses since it was October! I will have to make sure to go back when they are blooming! I really liked walking around these gardens, it was really ...

... with animals, we really enjoyed the acrobatics and the incredible diversity of the circus. Acts came from all over the world, including England and Kenya and was well worth the 7&#8364;!<br><br>My Sundays are now typically spent preparing for school on Monday, after a nice lie-in and a visit to the Sunday morning market, of course!<br><br>This week at school I began teaching. However, not many of the teachers remembered this. I arrived for my ...

... at various buildings. All were very interesting and each professor incorporated their own concepts/ideas with each building. This became a more integrated approach to us learning our architecture. The next day we traveled to Amiens, to look at another Notre Dame Cathedral. A little different then the last, but still very impressive. Amiens was a nice little town, it houses a main university in France so it was awesome to get to see how other students in Europe ...

... a street stall and took a walk around Vieux Lille up to the Catédral Notre Dame de la Treille which is an incredible building. It was built during two different centuries and the modern front of the building has only been finished for ten years, having been completed in 1999.<br>Monday eventually arrived and it was back to work for both of us; I was up at seven to catch the metro and eight to be at school by nine. This week I have only been observing classes, however not only English ...

Before heading back to Ann's house, we decided to make a pit-stop in Ieper (Ypres) on our way back to Herentals. We were told there was a famous museum called "In Flanders Field Museum".<br><br>The museum was not big at all, but it was interactive which made it interesting. They had the famous Canadian poem "In Flanders Fields" projecting on the wall. We think it was a copy of the original ...

... if that were the case, we would linger afterwards and do our own private remembrance ceremony. You would think that something like this Menin Gate Ceremony would be planned well in advance and that things would be pretty much tied up, but no. At the last minute we were given the heads up and we were part of the official  ceremony. We were pretty "stoked". Only people dressed in Legion dress were allowed to participate so that meant that Jamie would not be ...

... cutest donkey. We then had lunch in the town of Ypres. A nice dirty burger!! Walked around Ypres and saw the Menin Gate - Great War Memorial. It signified where many soldiers left Ypres to travel down Menin road to the Western Front, many to never return. Also had to tuck into a Belgium Waffle *drool* with Ferrero Roche Ice Cream. Quick little visit to Leonidas - Yummy ...

... the only people staying here tonight and had the pick of all 3 rooms. It also meant that we had full use of the rest of the house including the kitchen and lounge rooms all to ourselves. What a treat after tiny hotel rooms for 3 weeks to have a whole house to relax in. We didn't stay long as we headed back out into the downpour to explore more of this incredible part of the world. We drove to the neighbouring town of Poperinghe and Langmarke, both of which ...

... from Hull/Grimsby in England and he held the 'standard' while the bugle was sounding. Harry was in the second World War and took a trawler across the English Channel for the Dunkirk invasion. He comes to Ypres every few years to honour his mates who all died. Wonderful shopping here with the main purchase Belgium chocolates and lace. Unfortunately the former wouldn't last a trip back to Auss so sorry folks you'll have to continue to buy snickers bars from the local supermarket ...