The Somme

After Paris and then a rainy day spent in Chantilly (horse racing) town we moved on to the wide open fields of northern France. Checked up on a Great-uncle CDGilroy Fowler killed in action on the Somme in 1918 aged 26. He is buried in a military cemetery in a spectacularly peaceful field in Bertrancourt, there is nothing around for miles, just fields but they have planted a small stand of trees along 2 sides of the cemetery so you can only hear birds and see sky amd green fields. Talk about RIP. There is a little brass cupboard containing a register and all the information available about the battle etc. 25 other NZers there of 386. There are over 1000 of these sites in the Somme, every one of them immaculately kept. we left a message in the visitors book 95 yrs on.

We left the Somme to go north, northeastwards along a road which is built to follow the 1916 frontline. Memorials all the way, sobering but very worthwhile. it is all so well looked after and respected by the French.

Random pics of the trip

Gardening in ancient village

Some great ways to get around

you can get 

Hot chocolate or baguettes from vending machines

French life

Stayed a couple of nights with family.....and various others that drift in from Aus and NZ. gorgeous French home north of Paris. We had fab meals on the terrasse, Ron loved helping the builder screw down the new decking around the pool...got a power tool back in his hand...while the girls caught up on a lifetime ago. It was so good to be in a home and speak English non stop, lots of fun. The pics are of their tiny village (156 people) and the big chateau is the golf club..the fields around (17500 hectares) all belong to one family for last 300 yrs. they continue the tradition of a party for everyone in the village every season's change...magical.

Family photo

An afternoon in Paris

Paris on a motorbike...

We were definitely not going to ride the bike into Paris..but what the heck, we are here and there is an urban mode (whatever that means!) on the bike so here goes..
An experience we will never forget thats for sure. Set the GPS for Centre and off we went. I counted 22 overhead passes and we were still 12kms to go.
Pressure points at tunnels and intersections immediately jam but the French are good drivers - polite but firm...just inch their way forward   and soon as through..off at full speed. All the bikes weave to the front all the time, only 1mm between wing mirrors is all you need. We even had a bus driver nod and turn his front wheel so we could get through to the front. Amazing. Its awesome, beautiful, old, frantic and just Paris. Rode through Place de la Concorde (no lanes, just mayhem) but decided the Champs Elysees was probably just stupidity - it was jammed so just enjoyed the Louvre and wandering about the Tuileries gardens...parked in the wrong carpark and caused a commotion which ended with words we recognised like 'stupide and Anglais' but thats another story involving a parking ticket, cc tv cameras and being marched to the office under the Louvre to be fined only to be let off with the words above. Every day an adventure. There are times we clarify we are from Nouvelle Zelande and times we leave them thinking we are English. It works well.Headed out again about 6.30pm north to my cousins beautiful French home in the country side.

Riding along the Boulevards and avenues of Paris:

East of Paris...

As far as the eye can see....its just fields and colour. We left the main roads as such lovely scenery, took longer but worth it!!

Seeing the history

Back in France and heading for Paris now along the north and then south west. Such a lot of war history in the north. You can only touch on it here and there but somehow the events stick in your mind better if you actually see and sense the place where things happened. Travelled through Verdun, it was a region of a WW1 battleground. They have left large fields exactly as they were in 1916-17 with metal helmets, shells, blown up guns just left there, and the trenches and shell holes in the ground. Farmland all around but also enormous, immaculately kept white cross cemeteries just in the middle of no-where. With all the reminders of it, its hard to figure how there came to be another war.

528kms later, we arrived in Reims about 9pm, was still light and still ...cold. Still no sign of Spring let alone Summer. Woke today and thought about getting a train into Paris for the day as hotel right next to train station and although 150kms was only 45 mins. started to rain though so decided against it...just as well...today there was a massive protest in Paris against recent gay mariage bill...would have been tricky getting back again with that sort of crowd and find the right train!

So...time for some more history lessons..its good, as long as only a little at a time.

Went to the Map room where the Allied Command was based in WW2. (General Eisenhower in command of Allied Forces was based here in Reims). The maps of battles happening, casualties, railway lines, artillery movements, where the German supply depots were in occupied France all the operational stuff still there.
All exactly as it was at the end, as the pics show, the map room was the actual room where the armistice was signed. they have left the room exactly as it was.

More pics of time in Germany

Heidelberg very old but vibrant university town

Magnificent castle in background

Add caption