We didn’t need any rocking to sleep last night! Unfortunately, the warm 26 degrees of the last couple of days disappeared overnight and we woke to cold (well, very cold) damp fog which developed into rain during the afternoon – the temperature even dropped lower. It was definitely a day for down jackets, hats, scarves, gloves and longens!
Our first call this morning – after our breakfast of croissants, bread, pain au chocolate (not bad, actually), milo cereal or cornflakes – was at the Adelaide Cemetery on the outskirts of Villers-Bretonneux. This is the cemetery containing the remains of Les’ uncle and we quickly located his grave and laid some poppies in remembrance.
Our next stop was a revisit to the Australian War Memorial, the scene of yesterday’s service. When we arrived, our guide thought it would be nice to have a group photo and offered to do the photography; he ended up with 19 cameras and 2 iPads on the ground in front of him and we smiled and smiled and smiled! It was nice just to be able to wander at leisure, look at the memorial and flowers – our little bunch was quite at home among the larger arrangements! The entire party seemed to enjoy this visit as a moment of quiet reflection.
The memorials continued with a visit to the scene of Monash’s victory at Le Hamel before the tour guide and coach driver had further discussions about possible routes to our morning tea stop! Then it was a quick visit to another statue – a very impressive and “strong” statue – before the discussions continued on the way to our lunch stop. (These two have obviously never been teamed together before!!!)
Our final stop for the day was back in Villers-Bretonneux at the school and French-Australian Museum. We commenced the visit in the school assembly hall (school children attend between 8.00 am and 1.00 pm daily) which was lined with blackwood and had numerous carvings of Australian flora and fauna. It was decided to have another group photo in the school yard – all the cameras were lined up once again! We then spent an hour in the actual museum the school children had put together over the years, with countless contributions from people and organisations in Australia. There was even a copy of the weeping angel postcard! We could have spent more time here, quite easily.
As this is our final night on tour, we will walk, through the rain, for about 20 minutes to a restaurant on the banks of the canal – and then have to walk back. Fortunately, dress is casual casual.
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