On to the western front

Friday 2nd May

After 2 very relaxing days in Reims we have moved on to Amiens. 

We had a job to do on the way - post a parcel home to Australia (Kerry). We stopped in the town of Soissons - we think we have been there before. I decided to put 1 1/2 hrs on the parking meter so we'd have time for coffee. Well, that was a good plan, as the transaction in the post office took up a fair chunk of the time. 

Decided we had enough time to look at the cathedral in Soissons. There are 7 of this Gothic style cathedral in a 60km radius. Not planning to visit the other 6. We also looked at the bombed out abbey nearby. It must have been pretty amazing in it's entirety.

More beautiful irises.

Pierre Paul Rubins (I thought at first Van Gogh)

Soissons cathedral

The bombed out abbey at Soissons

Stopped for lunch at what seemed to be a popular restaurant along the route. Not quite your tradie stop or tradie prices, but a very nice lunch.

Took a detour via Villers Bretonneux and visited the Franco Australian museum. This museum is at the primary school which was rebuilt with the assistance of Australia - all schoolkids in Victoria were asked to donate a penny to help with the rebuild.

The Victoria School at Villers Bretonneux.

Villers Bretonneux has a sister city relationship
with Robinvale in Victoria, Australia.

The Australian memorial just outside Villers Bretonneux. 

On then to our apartment in Amiens - quite big by previous standards.

Saturday 3rd May

Happy election day to all of you at home - and much happier birthday day to me. At least we have been spared all the campaigning, and all the washup. We have just heard that Labour won. Ho, hum!

It is much colder today then yesterday (30+) and we really should have put on long pants. We have spent this morning touring some of the Australian memorial sites in the Somme. First stop was to the Lochnagar crater - a huge hole in the ground where the British mined their way in behind the German lines and placed a huge bomb. Apparently the explosion could be heard in London and shot rubble 4000m into the sky. 

It's a huge hole. 

These plaques are along the way of the western front sites.

Next stop Pozieres where Rob and Kerry's great uncle is buried in the British memorial cemetery.

Then on to the Bullecourt Digger memorial. This is near the town of Bullecourt and the Aussies are held in very high regard there with a lot of aussie flags around the town. Some lovely tributes at the memorial from local school kids and wreathes from Australian government, AIF and other Australian groups.

That was enough touristing for the day especially when the rain set in. It rained on and off heavily as we drove back to Amiens. Time for a lovely lunch at a boulangerie, and some supermarket shopping. We've bought a small fan as most accommodations that we choose don't have air conditioning and it is quite warm at night. 

Birthday yum!

Rest time this afternoon.