Mr Smith hands over the Wreath for the Menin Gate Ceremony
The names of Perth Academy ex-pupils who made the ultimate sacrifice
We haven't even left the car park yet... What have we let ourselves in for!?!
Coffee...
No coffee...
This is coffee... it is my friend... Grrr!!!!
So, if I want a spoon, I say "Je m'appelle spoons", right?
This overnight journey is a doddle... what were we worrying about?
Who pulled the chair away?
Sandy...
It's Hug-A-Hoodie day at the Toll Road services!
That's some bad hat, Harry!
Tired?
LOL!
Wrong bus, son!
Bzzz.....
Pile-up!
And then there were...
...four!
Bonnie Scotland
To France...
That's back the way we came...
Hello, I'm on the phone...
Too many legs...
Passports ready... and not looked at... go figure!
The view from the back of the bus for a change!
Breath in!
Saluting practice...
This bus needs a clean!
The Phare (Lighthouse) at Notre Dame de Lorette
French War dead at Notre Dame de Lorette
The cemetery is designed to emphasise the scale of the French losses. It succeeds.
"Here Lie The Bodies Of 1,892 Unknown Soldiers"
A vous tous, nos heros, avec respect et amour toujours...
A reconstructed trench at Vimy Ridge.
Getting ready to go into the tunnels beneath Vimy
Going down...
The tunnels under Vimy Ridge are a potent reminder of the war
We saw only a fraction of the tunnels... there are so many of them.
Listening attentively...
The realities were beginning to sink in for some at this point...
Muslim headstones at Notre Dame de Lorette
In the trenches...
When you stand in the trenches you don't have to try too hard to imagine what it must have been like for the soldiers during the war.
The electric fence is to keep the sheep who 'cut' the grass from falling into the trenches.
Try to imagine what it must have been like to negotiate these trenches with full packs and while under fire...
Kate, our Canadian guide, explains a little more about the Vimy Ridge site.
Adam thought the crater in the background was massive... he'd soon learn.
Surprise, interest and shock at the history of Vimy Ridge
A surviving German 'pillbox'
Oh Canada...
Frog Central
The reason why we need the pupils to do what we say, when we say it, without question... There are constant reminders that this whole area was once a place of death and destruction on an unimaginable scale.
The Vimy Ridge Memorial There is a fascinating history of the building of the memorial on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Vimy_Memorial
Into the Vimy Tunnels...
The Tunnels at Vimy Ridge
The detritus of war...
Mother Canada mourns her lost.
The Tank memorial near Pozieres
The Basilica in Albert
The Golden Madonna holding the baby Jesus. So many legends grew up around this statue during the Great War: http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/albert.html
'Here fishy, fishy, fishy...'
Feel free to add your own caption!
Lochnagar Crater
Je ne m'appelle pas 'spoons'!
Et voila, the Haribo Roll...
...it's worth watching the reaction...
...as Adam bites into...
...the dreaded (and possibly unhealthy), Haribo roll...
We're first for breakfast... so we get ALL the pain au chocolats!
Breakfast at the Chateau
Getting ready to be photographed by Belgian Customs officials as part of the EU 'open borders' policy... They'll never be fooled as easily again!
...and 'Smile!' for the nice Belgians...
I think some of them are beginning to smell a rat...
The Menin Gate
Perth Academy pupil at the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres/Ieper, Belgium
They finally managed to get a photo of Mr Winton sound asleep...
Goodbye, Rich...
The lights of Perth rushed towards us all too quickly, and suddenly the great adventure was over...
