Somme, Day 1

24^th April – Wednesday

 Paris skyline

Pheasant Wood War Cemetery

 Cobber Statue

 Church at Bullecourt

Pub at Bullecourt

 Keeping an eye out on the bus

 War artefacts

 Windmill - a German observation post

 Town sign at entrance to Pozieres

The room is green!

 

We quickly realised we were back on a bus tour this morning, with a 7.30 am start! The journey out of Paris didn’t take all that long, given we were driving against the traffic. With a very modern coach, the journey north towards Fromelles was very comfortable. We had a short stop at a services area (service station plus food) before continuing to our first war cemeteries at Fromelles. He who always wears a hat/cap had to add to his collection of 60+ at this stop – his touring collection was safely locked in his suitcase in the luggage hold of the bus! Being so close to the Belgium border, the villages in this area of the Somme had a distinct Flemish flavour.

Driving along the small, narrow country lanes, through the small villages, with green or ploughed fields, was just delightful, especially as the skies were clear and the temperature hovered around 23. The tour guide decided we should return to the services area for lunch (the little village shops couldn’t cope with 40 hungry bodies all at once!) and it was at this time we realised the coach driver was totally ignoring his GPS and not taking any notice of the maps he was constantly consulting!!! The tour guide seemed to know where he was going (or wanted to go), but had difficulty at times with which way to turn. Needless to say, we probably saw more of the country lanes than intended, even turning the coach in the yard of a potato farm at one stage.

Lunch was a good chance to practice our French and we managed to order deux pomme frites after being warned not to eat hamburgers or sausages. A visit to the ladies was a battle with the French men, who didn’t seem to mind sharing the facilities as the gents was closed for cleaning. For some reason, the Aussie men decided to wait.

The afternoon was spent visiting Australian War Memorials and battle fields, especially Bapaume and Bullecourt. We also called into a museum at Bullecourt which had been set up by a local couple to display artefacts found by locals when ploughing fields, as well as general displays. There was even a poster outlining the war career of Harry Murray from Evandale – the winner of a VC and various other medals for bravery.

We were amazed at the number of coach tours operating in the area, especially for ANZAC Day – we have been told to expect anywhere up to 10,000 people at the Dawn Service.

We are staying in Amiens for three nights at the Ibis Styles near the cathedral. This very old building has very “cosy” rooms, complete with beamed ceiling and walls. There is just room for a queen size bed and our cases. But we do have free wifi …