Mark Hone Posted 19 March , 2022 Share Posted 19 March , 2022 (edited) Covid etc permitting, I shall be in the area with a group on the 105th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Messines, Tuesday 7th June. Unfortunately, my initial research indicates that none of the cafes that I am familiar with: the ones in the middle of Messines, the Belvedere at Kemmel and the one opposite the Ploegsteert Memorial, are open on Tuesdays. Does anyone know of other possibilities? Edited 19 March , 2022 by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Mackenzie Posted 19 March , 2022 Share Posted 19 March , 2022 Glad to hear you are doing your trips again Mark. I hope it goes well. I was going to suggest Wijtschate but all the cafes I looked at there seem to be closed on a Tuesday as well. I am not sure whether COVID restrictions would muck things up but could you go down to the Le Bizet/Armentieres area? Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 19 March , 2022 Author Share Posted 19 March , 2022 (edited) Thanks, Neil. After two years of cancellations we have two tours scheduled this year, the first in June. Planning has been more difficult than usual, not least because of the cancellation of the Hull-Zeebrugge overnight ferry which we have used for all Ypres-based tours since 2010. We're having to go Dover-Calais, as in the old days. This obviously means that we shall have to travel via France which currently has different, and more stringent, Covid entry requirements than Belgium. Whatever the difficulties, it will be great to get back to the battlefields after a gap of two years. Edited 19 March , 2022 by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 19 March , 2022 Share Posted 19 March , 2022 Not a cafe as such when I went there in 1996. The second time we went, we filled the car with bottles of mort subite.https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g7335453-d8774722-Reviews-Vanuxeem_Brewery_SA-Ploegsteert_Comines_Warneton_Hainaut_Province_Wallonia.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 20 March , 2022 Author Share Posted 20 March , 2022 Thanks, Keith, I shall try to pop in on my next private visit to the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 20 March , 2022 Share Posted 20 March , 2022 Mark, How big is your group? Are you looking for lunch, or just a drink and loo stop? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 20 March , 2022 Share Posted 20 March , 2022 I have asked a friend who lives in the area and he says, try the 'faubourg d'armentieres' in Messines. The landlady is Doris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 21 March , 2022 Author Share Posted 21 March , 2022 (edited) Thanks, Ken. The party will be c. 30 students and four members of staff. It's smaller than my usual group as I'm bringing another party in October. We're after drinks, snacks and loo stop. The troops will have packed lunches, but will be amenable to croques monsieurs, frites etc., I suspect. I'll follow up your suggestion. Edited 21 March , 2022 by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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