Paris - October 8

---

Paris (Amiens) - October 8

(Geoff) Sue and I decided before coming on this trip that when we were in Paris, we would see some of the country where Australians fought in the great war. So today it was off by train to Amiens to meet up with our tour guide and then spend the day around the Somme. When I worked with DVA, I had heard the names on a regular basis and now we were really here seeing where it all happened.

We were met at the train station by our guide, Sylvestre, and along with 6 other Aussies, we headed out of Amiens towards Villers-Bretonneux. Our guide showed us the lay of the land and told us where the front lines were and then took us to a little war cemetery near by. It was really moving to see the headstones that said “Here lies a soldier of the Great War - known only to God”. There were so many graves and of course many more soldiers of all the warring countries that still lie under French soil and are undiscovered - Sylvestre estimates about 500,000.

Then its off to the local school in the town - the kids have Wednesdays off these days and I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't chat to them - but there is a wonderful museum here and all around the school were signs not to forget the Australians! Our young soldiers obviously made an impression when they were over here fighting with the allies.

We meander through the countryside trying to envisage the wet, muddy conditions that our guys encountered in their time here. Now it is a beautiful panorama of rolling countryside given over to crop farming. We visited the Australian memorial (where they held the first European Anzac Day service this year) and then headed into Peronne for lunch, after stopping at a number of memorials along the way.

After lunch we get back on the road and head to Poziers. Here Australian forces suffered huge casualties in order to progress 6 kilometres over 6 weeks. Sounds like pretty horrific stuff. We finish up our tour at the British memorial to missing servicemen - some 73,000 - in Thiepval. This is a huge monument in a picturesque garden setting.

This has been an amazing day and its hard to put into words just what it has meant. It is a bit overwhelming to see where so many of our young men gave up their lives or were seriously wounded but at the same time it is fantastic to see that the French people recognise the sacrifice on their behalf and are determined to keep the faith. I feel a bit more humble tonight.

We finish the tour and wish all our new Aussie friends bon voyage and have extended an invite to our guide to look us up if he gets to Canberra. We hope he will and we can show him our memorial and what it has to offer.

Tonight is our last night in Paris and in Europe, so until we get the chance to update our journal again, we wish you all au revoir.

---