As the Olympics 2016 draw to a close, we head out again on another ten week jaunt to France and Spain, being grateful we chose to cross the channel on Eurotunnel instead of enduring a rough crossing in the high winds. Having left home at 7.15am we were driving down the French motorway by 11am without so much as a hint of seasickness!
Our first destination was Albert in the Somme, this town being the epicentre of the allied offensive and the area in which over two million lives were lost between 1916 and 1918 in World War One.
We found a lovely location in a lakeside park to stay for a couple of nights, right next to the local campsite but without having to pay for a pitch! (Call us cheapskates if you will but we enjoy finding and staying in some wonderful places and no one seems to care!)
After a peaceful night (apart from the quacking of the ducks) we walked into town to visit the underground museum of the Somme, a fascinating place but you can't escape the fact that fighting in WW1 was incredibly tough if you managed to stay alive that is. The museum was filled with artifacts from the war from rifles fixed with bayonets to buttons and belt buckles, all set in a long medieval underground tunnel. It gave a more authentic feel being below ground, especially the scenes setup of life in the dugouts and trenches.
After the museum we wandered around the town finding it so tranquil after the hustle bustle of life back at home.
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| Our first cafe stop! |
The night was quiet, even the ducks respected the hours of darkness and the next day we set off out on our bikes on the Veloroute 32 to visit some of the WW1 sites and memorials, cemeteries filled with 1000 graves often over half of the graves being an unknown soldier, row upon row of graves, so many from the initial push at the Somme on 1st July 1916.
Our last stop was the massive Lochnagar crater, created when the Tommies tunnelled under the German stronghold and planted 22 tons of explosives, the Germans were blown to smithereens, but many of our soldiers also lost their lives in the battle that ensued.
After another night in our park we spent the next day cycling out of Albert to Corbie through the peaceful countryside and sleepy French hamlets. The temperature soared to well over 30° and we were in need of a cool drink and a shower when we got back to the van. Luckily we were able to empty our waste tanks and refill our water at the nearby campsite for 5€.
Later that evening we were joined by a German motorcyclist travelling across France to meet her friend. We soon got chatting and her name was Johanna, she is a student in teacher training in English, we thought she was very brave to be travelling alone and like us avoiding the campsites, but sleeping under the stars - not like us!We certainly seem to meet people from all walks of life when we travel, that's what makes it so interesting!
