Down through the Somme to Versailles

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South From Calais

We were amazed to see the coast of England so clear and so near when we passed Le Cap Gris opposite Dover from where we left on Thursday lunchtime so easily. There we loads of people about and we wondered what was going on. There were special markets in one or two villages as well. Then we twigged. It was Ascension Day. A Thursday in May.

We stopped at our first French campsite just picked up from signs off the road. It was ok and friendly in a French sort of way. It was full of French who seemed to be living there. We were the only stopovers.

The Somme

Not knowing where we were going we ventured inland to Abbeyville where we pickup up a French electric plug and visited the damaged church. Damaged? We had entered the site of the first world war battlefields. So we went onto Albert and Peronne. We stayed at the Municipal site and saw the special museum of the Great War. It rained over their special annual market unfortunately. And we got wet.

Last Monday we cycled the tour of the battlefields, memorials and graveyards. The most impressive is the Thiepval Franco-British Memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was huge. There were loads of kids there from France and Britain. We missed a couple of sites and made our way through Albert again and on to home.

As we had to climb all the slight inclines and zoom down the hills we became aware of the awful terrain that the battle had to naviagate and we saw how the Germans always had the best defensive positions with the Allies having to battle their way up the slopes to attack them. Something wrong there, we thought.

Versailles

But we took a step back in history with the next stop just outside Versailles. It was just two kilometres to the chateau which is very impressive. Especially the grounds which are meticulously maintained.

And the campsite has wifi. How about that then?

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Photos

At the London Cemetery
Lesley and gravestones.

Thiepval Memorial
A huge monument with the name of all the English dead without a proper grave and headstone.

Versailles Gardens
A very small part of the enormous gardens. And a gardener.

Comments

[Claudine et Pierre Alain]

Welcome to France
Don't forget to give us a ring if by any chance you get close to Bordeaux, our bikes are ready for a ride in our area.