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Published: October 7th 2017
What a lovely day!! My backside didn't go anywhere near a bike saddle all day today and, for that, it is eternally grateful!!
After a yummy breakfast of bacon and eggs with all the usual trimmings, we packed up and headed into town. A brief tour of the Saturday morning markets cost me nothing more than 2 Euros for a scarf and 3.50E for a couple of pastries. The lady at the fruit stall gave me a delicious plum for free!!
Next stop the Historical Museum de Guerre Grande (Historical Museum of the Great War). Well worth a look for an overview of the atrocity which was the First World War. What a frightful waste of 11 million young lives!! Plus, of course, the aftermath of so many men with physical and psychological ailments many of which probably never healed. For so much of the war the front moved in increments of yards and miles. Bullecourt, which we visited later in the day, was taken and retaken 19 times in the Spring of 1917 - for what end?? For how many lives lost??
One of the guests, Pru Cowan, who knows the area very well, organized a fantastic
The Weapons of War
Historical Museum de Guerre Grande, Peronnetour of several of the key sites in the Somme valley. Through the help and generosity of her friend, Caroline Gibet, Pru organised a minibus and driver, Jose, plus Caroline made her two cars available for us to use. Pru took us to Fricourt where there is a large German war grave. This reminded us quite poignantly, that there were two unfortunate sides in this conflict.
Then it was on to Albert for a quick stop to see the golden Madonna atop the cathedral. Back in the vehicles for the short hop to the Lochnagar Crater, a massive hole in the ground made by a massive mine explosion. The site includes many moving storyboard of what the war was like in the surrounding battlefields. The weather was deteriorating but it didn't stop us spending as much time as we could spare, reading the stories and immersing ourselves in the experience of trying to relive or, at least try and imagine, the soldiers agony, sacrifice and bravery.
We were all a little subdued (and cold) by this time but thoughtful Pru had anticipated this and our next stop was The Tommy, a bar steeped in history from WWI. Very
kindly, the Proprietor told us a little about the lists of Australian names he has on display. Most impressive was the very apparent gratitude he and other French men and women living in the region today still hold for the British and Commonwealth forces which came to their forebears' aid in the War. In Pozieres, that gratitude was clearly focused towards Australians and, as an Aussie, was quite moving. We were delighted when the Mayor of Pozieres and his wife joined us a for a chat.
Out the back of the pub, were very authentically recreated trenches of the type constructed by both the Allies and the Germans. The collection of used cartridges and other weapons and munitions is quite remarkable and gives an indication of the volume expended. The farmers of the region must continue to plough their fields each year with some degree of trepidation at what they might turn up.
The rain stopped for a while, but the wind was bitterly cold, but that didn't deter us from visiting the enormous memorial to the missing British soldiers at Thiepval. Again, it was a time for reflection and contemplation of the futility of war. The museum
nearby was very well presented and our only problem was the tight schedule we had to maintain meant we had little time to spend here.
On the way to our final stop at Bullecourt, we paused at the Ulster Tower, where Brian explained the significance of the tower and the red left hand symbol used by the Ulster Volunteer Regiment.
At Bullecourt we visited the Bullecourt Digger, a statue honouring the 10,000 Australian soldiers killed there during the First and Second Battles of Bullecourt in April and May 1917. This was of special significance to Kerrie whose Great Great Uncle had died there but whose final resting place is, as yet, unknown. We also stopped at a small shrine where we lit candles to remember the fallen. Whilst there, the local Mayor arrived on a tractor and said bonjour to us. (That's two mayors in the one day - we felt very honoured!!)
Before leaving Bullecourt we ducked into the Canberra pub far a quick drink and to say hi to some locals.
On arriving back in Peronne, we sat down to a wonderful meal at the Bistrot D'Antoine and staggered back on board Elodie at
around 11.30pm.
Tomorrow we have another 55km ride and we are waiting to hear from Henry whether there are any hills. The alternative to riding is to stay onboard and enjoy the scenery and the interesting traverse of a 3.5km tunnel.
Let's see what the morning brings.
A bientot.
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