Chocoholic Dreams Are Made Of This

When we stepped into Leonidas Chocolates in Ypres main Market Square, we were welcomed in perfectly spoken English, by a lovely sales clerk who elegantly shared a free sample of chocolate.  Okay, this is the Swiss chocolatier's Lindt rival for me - I worked a year in Zurich, next to the Lindt chocolate factory and I'm a brand loyal fan.  The Leonidas "chocolate special" was impossible to refuse - most of the items pictured below for 9.90 Euros ($15.00CAD).  We were sold.  I picked up the tin as a souvenir (it's not part of the special).  As Easter approaches, when we return in April with our Return To Vimy group, we will go in to buy their foil covered chocolate egg Easter stock.  The owners are Stephanie and Hans.  Stephanie had a chat with us when I asked permission to photograph their employee Joicy and blog about the shop.  She wanted us to share this Belgium chocolate experience and Leonidas has generously extended a discount card to all 200 of our group.  Any diets underway at the time of travel will be challenged!

A wall of fresh Belgium chocolate to choose from.

Our chocolate and goodies stash - start the car!

What's your favourite beer in Belgium?

Visiting Ypres offers up a great opportunity to taste the locally brewed Ypra.  If you like a smooth blond beer - this is a treat.  Our meal in Ypres, at Les Halles in the main square, was really good - a hearty French onion soup topped with phyllo pastry, and our Croque Monsiour and Croque Boum-Boum sandwiches were complemented by our drinks.  The restaurant was absolutely packed out on a Sunday night with locals and tourists alike.  Les Halles is hosting our large group buffet dinner for 200 people on April 5th, 2017 as part of our Return to Vimy Tour.  You don't have to stop at one beer tasting - lots of the pubs around the square have many types on tap for you to enjoy. Sante!

Christine's recommendation

Hearty French onion soup on the menu at Les Halles.

Les Halles packed with locals and tourists for a Sunday night dinner rush.

Lots of beer to choose from for beer aficionados.

First Menin Gate Ceremony Experience: March 12, 2017

I went to Menin Gate to find the name of a fallen New Zealander who was serving with the British Army.  My colleague at work, history teacher James Griffith, shared a documentary video clip, where Belgians were recovering remains of soldiers from the battlefield area around Ypres.  The remains had little to identify them - a buckle from his cross belt which indicated he had to have been an officer and a medallian, that bore three initials on the back of it - "H.J.I."  This was enough to identify his regiment and to identify him from the list of nine known officers from the Warwickshire Regiment in the battle - he was H.J.I. Walker.  The documentary captured the phone call to the nephew of H.J.I. Walker, living in New Zealand, that his uncle's remains were now found.  H.J.I. Walker is one of the 54,000 chiselled names on the wall.

Panel 8 of the Menin Gate with H.J.I. Walker

This nightly ceremony has occurred every night since 1928 (save for the four years of German occupation starting in 1940).  The Last Post is played at 8PM sharp by the volunteers buglers of the Ypres Fire Brogade.  There were about 400 people in attendance for this night's ceremony.

Menin Gate from the ramparts of the town wall of Ypres after the ceremony.