Saturday continued We relaxed for a while then headed off for Dinner, took a walk into the Town Centre, found a few Bars, but nothing Restaurant looking. We had noticed a place next to the Hotel so decided to eat there. We had the buffet starter, then a Chicken in Tandoori sauce and the local Pork Haggisy type thing, good value, average food. Not sure if I have explained the Hotels we stay in. Premiere Classe are a chain of 217 Hotels that range throughout France, they cost about 40 Euro's per night, and they are more or less the same at each location. They are clean, have free internet connections, and you can book online very easily, and they have automatic check-ins. You do get what you pay for, in that they are basic, but ... read more

Thursday continued We had dinner at The Hippopotamus, next door, a little pricey, but nice food, A Steak and a prawns, kebab, spring roll thingy. I don't remember hearing one car horn beep at us today. We take it in turns on a daily basis to do the driving. I don't think I really mentioned it before, but I was underwhelmed by Reims, I had expected much more to be made of the Champagne business, but it was hardly even mentioned in the Tourist Information. Friday, 3 October, 2008 The plan today is to travel from Reims to Chalons En Champagne, via Epernay. Overall, We have decided that as neither of us has been to Luxembourg, that we will give it a look, as we are heading in that general direction, so we will go via ... read more

Tuesday 1st October, 2008 The plan today was to move from Saint Quentin to Compiegne. The journey was a little longer than we have been completing, we filled up with petrol first thing, only our second time since arriving. Drove through all the minor roads, which we prefer to do, you get to see the sights that way, rather than just hammering along the main roads. Stopped at a French Military Cemetery at Cambronne-Les- Ribecourt 2100+ mainly second world war. Laid out in circles, very few flowers. Our first planned stop was the Chateau de Compiegne, which Pat had found in the guide books. A Royal / Imperial Palace. We arrived when it was closed for lunch, so popped across the road to Les Accordialles, the Madame was very much in charge of the place and ... read more

Monday, 29th September, 2008 Wow, what a day. Woke up and got moving quite early for us. Left, Bethune with a heading of Amiens, with a planned stop at Thiepval. We had booked our next night in a Premiere Classe in Amiens, so this was our destination for the day. Popped into a supermarket for bits and pieces. Visited The Notre Dame De Lorette, French cemetery, truly massive, containing 40,051. I may have said it before, but a photograph does not convey the sheer size of some of these cemeteries, with the grave markers stretching off into the distance, this place was big. Stopped at the local Estaminet and had a coffee, the place is filled with Trench Art and memorabilia. The little dog continually tries to get your attention to play with his toys, very ... read more

Saturday, 27th September, 2008 Left Ieper this morning, with a general heading of Bethune. Around lunchtime we stopped at a supermarket and had a coffee. Passed by many War Cemeteries and stopped at four - Trois Arbres Cemetery 1705 Burials Le Grand Beaumart Cemetery 552 Burials Vieille Chapelle New Military Cemetery ? Several hundred Zelobes Indian Cemetery 105 Burials Paid our respects at each of them and signed the visitors book when found. This really took up most of the morning and we arrived at the Bethune Premier Classe approximately 2 o'clock. We used the automated reception, which was impressive and very easy to use. Because the weather was so nice, we chilled for a while on the benches outside the Hotel and caught up with emails etc. The temperature registered as 39°C on my Clock ... read more