Aust Battlefields / Villers- Bretonneux tour...HELP??

Hi All

We ( husband %26amp; I just 50!) would like to visit the Australian War gravesand sites from WW1 in Oct 2008. Has anyone had experience with tour co. Terres de memoire - Australian Battlefields tours ?

www.terresdememoire.com/australiantour.html

Their site looks quite good. Any advice appreciated as this will be part of our first O/S trip and I am a little nervous to say the least!

Thanks

Chris

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bump up

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Excuse me, what do you mean? That is not at all helpful! I have searched forums and previous posts re this tour co. and found little or nothing helpful......

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%26quot;Excuse me, what do you mean? That is not at all helpful! I have searched forums and previous posts re this tour co. and found little or nothing helpful......%26quot;

Flowerspray was actually pushing your post to the top - bumping it up to the top again - so that more people would see it and perhaps be able to help you.

And no, I can%26#39;t help either, but Flowerspray WAS being helpful.

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Sorry if I seemed rude or cranky FLOWERSPRAY!! I do appreciate any efforts to answer my questions. Thank you for clarification BEANALAINN but some of the abbreviations or short cuts used on this site confuse me! Maybe it%26#39;s computer / email language of which I am not familiar.Will have to do more research on TA language!

I guess we just want a reputable tour guide %26amp; company as we don%26#39;t know a lot re this area but do have a family grave would like to visit. Recommendations always make me feel more confident when choosing which is why sites like TA are so helpful.

Villers- Bretonneux is particularly appealing due to its connections to Australia, in particular Victoria, where my family come from. Amiens and the Notre Dame Cathedral sound worth visiting too.

Again, I apologise if I seemed rude.

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Hi Chris

I will reply to your PM (personal message) directly but I did a search on google of the letters BP 70191 given in the contact details on the website you gave. I had a suspicion it was probably some kind of licence required by the company and it does seem to be. The first Google hit came up in the %26quot;Partners%26quot; section of this site for the Franco-Australian museum in the Victoria (!! your family%26#39;s home State it seems from your PM) School in Villers Bretonneux, which suggests it is reputable.

http://museeaustralien.com/page_2E.htm

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Thank you FAUX you have been really helpful.

I visited the site you mentioned it was excellent! I will email the various guides and see what they offer. Looks like most can pick up from AMIENS station which is good. Just may have to tote our big luggage with us if we do a tour first up when arr in France-CDG. Wondering if should fly in via Brussels instead, then train to pick up point. Not sure how tricky that would be at end of 6 weeks driving around UK!

Cheers

Chris

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Hi Chris

Another post below says Amiens is an hour by train from Gare du Nord and I wonder if it would not be easier to take the Eurostar and then the train to Amiens?

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Hi FAUX

we were not going to France via London but via Edinburgh.

Was thinking fly ED to Paris/ Brussels then on. Dont think me obtuse but is Eurostar to and fro London %26amp; Continent?

We will be in Ireland then Britain Scotland %26amp; France last! Mind you we have no flights booked so everything is still open to change. We fly Singapore Airlines BRIS- AMS ret CDG Paris- BRIS. Chose Paris last due to weather getting colder in UK.

Any thoughts?

Thank you for your help so far.

Chris

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Hi cgh

I just assumed you would be leaving from near London when I suggested Eurostar. I suspect it is more straightforward to get from Paris to Amiens by public transport than Brusells to Amiens but had trouble looking at the SNCF site last night, no doubt due to the current strike.

I noticed that Amiens is quite close to Beauvais, the %26quot;Paris%26quot; airport used by Ryanair. This could be one case where the Beauvais airport is convenient. I wonder whether Ryanair is an option for you from Scotland? The Beauvais website says it is 65kms from Amiens and estimates the taxi fare to Amiens at 95 Euros except on Sundays and Public Holidays when they estimate 135 Euros.

www.aeroportbeauvais.com/taxi.php?lang=eng

Remember that Ryanair has smaller baggage allowances than the major airlines and take into account excess baggage prices when comparing prices,

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Hi Chris,

Have just seen your post re Villers Bretonneux. We were on the Somme earlier this year and although we did not take an organised tour, here is a bit of information that may be useful. If you are flying into CDG, you can take the TGV directly from the airport to Haute Picardie, the TGV stop for Amiens. It is in the middle of nowhere (that%26#39;s another story!) but a bus takes you to Amiens. The train journey is only half an hour, and the advantage is that you don%26#39;t have to go into central Paris to take the train to Amiens. Amiens is charming and the cathedral breathtaking - don%26#39;t miss it. Villers Bretonneux is half way between Amiens and Haute Picardie. Where is your ancestor buried? If he is in one of the smaller cemeteries, it may not be easy for an organised tour to take you there, although many of the tour operators will take their clients to particular places. Bear in mind there are nearly 1000 Commonwealth War Graves in northern France and Belgium.

Linda