We have arrived in France, in Arras , 185 kms north of Paris. It is the last stop of our “adventure”!

On our last night in Nordlingen , our hosts Walter and Tina took us to a Beer Garden for dinner. It was a lovely way to end our stay and say goodbye to Germany. Thank you Walter and Tina!

We had one over night stay at Sainte Menehould and the view of the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) from our window was rather nice.

The next day we stopped for breakie at the cute little town of Chalons en Champagne. The Cathedral was rather large , with lots of gargoyles, and we would have liked to have gone in but it wasn’t open!

We drove through the Champagne region where we stayed a few years ago and visited a Champagne House and really enjoyed his champers so we returned and bought a 6 pack! Don’t know how long it will last but we will enjoy it!

 

 

We stopped for lunch at the foot of the impressive Pierrefonds Chateau. We “viewed” , didn’t visit! It was in ruins in the 17th Century and Napoleon 3rd decided to rebuild it to re create a chateau from the middle ages!

 

 

We also went to The Glades of Armistice Memorial. This is the authentic location that marked the end of World War 1. It was here in a train carriage that the signing of the Armistice took place on November 11th 1918.

The actual train carriage was destroyed by Hitler in 1940 but a replica stands in the museum. A granite monument has the words “Here on November 11 the criminal pride of the German Empire was vanquished by the free people it had sought to enslave”. It was quite a solemn and peaceful spot to reflect on the atrocities of war.

Arras is in the Somme area of France, so we are around a lot of Battlefields of the Aussies during World War 1. We did however visit the worlds largest French Military Cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette. (above) The Basilica and the memorial Watchtower were beautiful and they stand guard over the remains of more than 42,000 soldiers and the ashes of many Concentration Camp victims who died in the North of France and Belgium’s Flanders Fields in WW1.

 

Nearby is the  very moving ” Ring of Remembrance ” (below) which bears the names of almost 580,000 soldiers who fell in Northern France between 1914 and 1918.

We “visited” the Chateau de Cleremont-Tonnere at Bertangles. This Chateau has a close affinity with Aussies! It was the Headquarters of General John Monash during WW1 and it was on the steps of the Chateau that he became SIR John Monash on August 12th 1918.

We did a tour of the Chateau and we had one “older gentleman” from the Netherlands who was very serious when he asked us….”was Australia involved in WW1?” We very nearly answered….”hey mate , the Aussies won the bloody war” but thought better of it! During the tour it was pointed out that although the Australians were exceptionally good fighters they were often drunk , and a prison had to built specifically for them to “sober up”. We found it quite amusing!

We did a “little tour” of some of the villages close by.

 

The tiny village of Mont Saint Eloi had the remains of what would have been a rather large Abby, The building was demolished after the French Revolution except for it’s 2 towers which were used by French troops to observe German positions in WW1.

 

 

We came across a tiny little Chapel called the “Chapel of Notre Dame de Pitie”.( below). It was built in 1624 by 3 nuns from a nearby Abby. The story goes that they were in their carriage when the horses bolted so they prayed to “our lady of pity” vowing to build a chapel to her honour, if she would stop the horses and save their lives. The horses stopped so they built their chapel. Graves have been found in the nearby fields which they think may be the graves of the 3 nuns! A nice story!

Along our route we came across some Chateaux. Only “viewed” , didn’t visit. The Chateau Barly, now a Hotel (left) was ok , as was the Chateau Pas -en -Artois which is owned by a Count and Countess.

 

 

Our favourite however was the Chateau -de-grand- Rullecourt (below) where we stopped for lunch! Well we actually had a picnic sitting on the grass outside the gate ,but the view was good!

We have done quite a bit of walking around the centre of Arras. The Hotel de Ville and the Belfry is the central focus of the gorgeous Hero’s Square. The Town Hall was destroyed during WW1 as was much of the city but it was identically re constructed after the war.

The Belfry is 75 metres high and has 37 bells. You Can climb it apparently for great views but we will never know…too many steps for us!

We love the Flemish architecture of Hero’s Square. This was also destroyed after WW1 and rebuilt as it was in the 17th and 18th Century. It used to be called the Petite March (Small Market) but since 1945 it is known as Place des Heroes.

 

In a tribute to the Resistance fighters of Arras who were shot in WW2 close by in the Grand Place,  again totally reconstructed to it’s former glory after the bombing. There are 155 facades of buildings overlooking the 2 squares.

 

Just out of the centre of Arras is the large British Military Cemetery and Arras Memorial. It records the names of 34,942 men of the British Empire who lost their lives in the Battle of Arras and have no known graves , and also the gravesites of 2652 Commonwealth soldiers.

We visited the Vauban Citadel (below) built between 1668 and 1672 . It was designed and built to protect the Northern border of Arras however it has never been under siege!

 

Recently opened in Arras , is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Experience. We were very impressed. It is a “look behind the scenes” at the work that is needed to commemorate the 1.7 million casualties from the first and second world wars. It tells you how even today they still, with great dignity, recover and bury the dead and the work that goes into maintaining the Headstones and gardens of the memorials. Apparently , there are , on average, 40 new discoveries of WW1 remains each year.  We spent a very interesting hour here!

It hasn’t been all touring and sightseeing though! It is time for some food photos!

Yes , you guessed it, foie gras , sea bass and crème brulee! Yummo!

 

 

 

There will be more foie gras, crème brulee, duck confit and loads of cheese to come!

Tomorrow we have Wayne and Kaye arriving to spend a week with us. We have plenty planned to keep them busy!

But now it’s that time again!

A bientot!

Sante

Greg and Rhonda.