Arras

Wed 7^th November- Today we headed to Arras, it was just under an hour away. It was showery and cool so a good day to be wandering around a city rather than tramping in the paddocks. Arras was a beautiful city. We checked out the market in Place Des Heroes and got some cheese, potatoes and vegetables to make dinner tonight. We just wandered around and enjoyed the atmosphere. The rain had eased off, it was overcast and cool but didn’t affect us to much. . 

Above the town hall and below is the Place Des Heroes

After lunch we headed off to the Wellington Tunnels where we did a tour of the tunnels which had been dug by the New Zealand soldiers, seeing so we had NZ cousins with us it was rather appropriate. We had to wear tin hats to go down into the caves. They were old quarries that the engineers mapped and then built the tunnels. They ended up with about 24.000 soldiers underground and then they launched an attack on the Germans coming up through the tunnels a few metres from the German Trenches.

1. Bill, Geoff, Christine and I ready to go down the caves

Then we headed back to Pozieres, where we called into the Ulster Tower Memorial and Theipvail Memorial, by then it was cold and windy and starting to rain so headed back to Butterworth Farm. We chatted with John and then enjoyed a nice home cooked dinner cooked by Christine and myself. All the other guest have left so we have the place to ourselves for the last night. It has been another wonderful week here at Butterworth Farm.

Perone and Bellicourt

Today we were heading to Perone, on the way we called in at Fricourt to see the German Cemetery. 

Next stop was Perone, where Eric had also been and taken photos of the church and the Historial. Bill headed off to do his own thing, sitting out in a field at one of the attack sites that Eric had been involved in and walking around in some of the woods looking for old trenches and shell holes which he did, he was gone for about 2 hours. That left Christine, Geoff and I in Perone. Christine and Geoff headed to the Historial, because I had been there before I went on a walk around Perone, found the old gate and ramparts, walked through the gardens and along the Somme then through the town, which I really enjoyed. It was a lovely mild day around 16 degrees which was very pleasant. 

Above the old city gates

Lovely view of the Somme

Enjoying another one of our lovely French picnics

The tunnel at Bellicourt

The Historial at Perone

A lovely streetscape in Perone

We also visited  Bellicourt where we saw the tunnel on the Canal de Nord, built by Napoléon and photographed by Eric. At one stage about 20,000 Germans were stationed here, they drained the canal and boarded it over and the troops moved in. It as on the Hindenberg line, the Australians eventually took it from the Germans.

Morning Walk and Market at Pozieres

Had a lovely day today, went for a morning walk, this time down Dead Man’s Lane to the Chalk Pit, saw the sun coming up. 

One of the old shells found by the side of someone's house

After breakfast we headed into the Pozieres market which. It was a small market but they had bread, cheese, ham, chickens, fruit and veg. It was fun buying from people we couldn’t really speak to, but we worked out what each other meant, sort of, and had fun in the process! 

Next we headed to the Underground City of Naours, it was a whole complex of tunnels and caves from the middle ages when the villages used to go and live underground with their animals to hide from their enemies. It was discovered in the late 1800’s and the soldiers in WW1 and WW2 had used them as shelters and there was graffiti from the Australian soldiers and many others from 1917 and 1944.

This was some of the graffiti of the Australian Soldiers. C Hide had written his name about 6 or 7 times that we saw. Bill looked him up on the Australian War Memorial Site later when we were home, it turns out he died in battle shortly after this and the whereabouts of his body unknown, a sober thought.

This was a fossil of a mollusk in the quarry

 The streets in the underground city where the same as the town above, the names of the streets where carved into the limestone to help people find their way around.

From their we headed to Abbeyville where we took a photograph of a bombed out street that Eric would have stood in 100 years ago. This is Bill and his cousin Christine, both grandchildren of Eric Swanson Frost

Then we went to Rambures where there was a wonderful old chateau. Eric's brigade headquarters was stationed here after the end of the war for several months

Then we headed home, but called into Amiens where we visited the Cathedral which is bigger than Notre Dame in Paris and was built by the same people who built the Notre Dame.

Beautiful stained glass windows

Following in Eric Footsteps

Bill's cousin Christine and her husband Geoff have joined us at Pozieres to follow where her and Bill's grandfather Eric Swanson Frost traversed when he served as a signaler in WW1.

We began our day with a walk just down the road to see a German Bunker, it was a chilly, frosty morning, so enjoyed getting back to a warm B&B for breakfast.

Following breakfast we headed out on the road to visit some of the towns that Eric would have been stationed at. We visted Franvillers, Cappy, Heily, Bray, Sailly-le-sec, and Suzane.  We had lunch overlooking the Somme and walked along the banks of the Somme- a cool, crisp day, the countryside looked lovely an peaceful, it is impossible to imagine the carnage that took place in these fields.

Above is the view from our lunch spot overlooking the Somme, Eric also took a photo from here. Then we followed a walking path that took us down the hill and along the Somme. We spotted the painted cow below.

Enjoying our picnic lunch- I wonder if Eric stopped for a bite to eat here? Bill tells us they used to go fishing in the Somme using a hand grenade!

Three stooges, standing in the same spot Eric stood to take a photo of the church below in Sally-le-sec, which was shelled then rebuilt in WW1.

Chateau at Suzanne

The monument to the horses killed in WW1 in one of the villages

The Western Front

We caught the train to Amiens and got a taxi to Butterworth Farm in Poziers   where we are staying for the week. We had to catch a taxi as it was a public holiday and car rental places were closed, so we had to catch a taxi the next day to pick up our hire car.

After picking up our care we headed out to Villers Brettoneux which gave us a great view of the area, the weather was great as well so you could see for miles. We then went down to the John Monash Visitors Centre which was just excellent. We headed down to Corbie for some lunch- brought some baguettes and had a picnic in the town square then just wandered around and saw some of the places Eric had been. We then drove past the Red Baron Memorial and then to the supermarket at Albert to pick up some supplies, then back to the farm for dinner.

Villers Brettoneux

The view from the tower

On the way in to the John Monash Centre

 Picnic lunch at Corbie

Cathederal at Corbie

Walking along the Somme

Walking Tour of Paris and Getting Lost in Paris

Lots of walking in Paris today- but I love walking so that suits me. 

I headed out for an early morning walk- need to do extra walking to wear of all the pastries! I just walked around the area we are staying in and discovered a Roman Amphitheater in a park nearby! Picked up some breakfast on the way home.

Then Bill and I headed out and joined a Discover Paris Walking Tour- it was great and found out lots of information about Paris and walked in areas I hadn't been before.

After leaving our guide I decided I could find my way home without a map- we got a bit lost but had fun discovering some new areas. We stopped for lunch and managed to ignore our instincts which had been wrong and trusted google maps and found our way back home.

After a break we headed out again and visited the Grand Mosque of Paris, I managed to find the Roman Ampitheatre again to show Bill, then we walked down to the Latin Quarter for dinner before heading back to our apartment.