ABBA REMEMBERING FRANCE 2025
Completely oblivious to the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe at the time of booking, we went to France in May. This had been planned for some time with Chris and Sandra, primarily so that Chris might visit the location of a memorial to his grandfather, who was killed in the Somme in 1918. Chris had obviously never met his grandfather, and he had intended going to France with his sister, Helen, but this did not happen due to a fisherman's blockade of French ports. Subsequently, Helen, suddenly passed away and the project was shelved for a while. Now, it was time to resurrect it.
Day 1 Tuesday 6th May 2025
It wasn't an unacceptably early start to the first day. Apart from a little traffic delay we were at the airport in plenty of time.
Soon we were in glamorous Paris, well, at least we were in the car rental area of Charles de Gaulle airport. Here are Sandra and Sharon patiently waiting in a queue to sort out the hire car. Chris and I were interested observers.
Once the deed was done, we set off for the second time to find the car. The first time had been a misunderstanding and a waste of time.
Then we were off to Versailles, which we managed pretty well.
We checked into our hotel and parked on the street outside the door, so all was looking good.
I should warn any reader that the next photo is a bit disturbing. It shows me in a place that is certainly not my natural habitat. Now, some may call me a bit of a food snob and I would be happy with that. So our first meal in the self styled gastronomic country of the world, was a fast food pizza and chips sort of place! It was a matter of urgency as Sandra was about to collapse from starvation. This was already the start of a bit of a theme. I have, however, ironically decided to leave this blog with Highland Gourmet Trips, rather than elsewhere.
Even Chris, who everyone knows is a pork pie afficionado, looked a bit dubious.
Still, it filled a hole and we set off for the Palace of Versailles, just around the corner. This is what we had come to see on our first day - the glory and splendour of the gardens and fountains of the Palace. We knew we would be too late to visit the building itself, but there is Baroque music and gushing fountains to be seen in the late afternoon and evening. At least, that is what we thought.
First, you have to get past the statue of Louis XIV, who commissioned the building of the palace. The statue is a little unusual, in that it was made by two, related sculptors. It was begun by Pierre Cartellier, who died in 1831. At that point only the horse had been made, and that was originally designed for a statue of Louis XV! Cartellier's son-in-law Louis Petitot finished the job. I didn't want to appear to know it all at the time by pointing out that the proportions of the horse and rider are a little different.
Looking through the gates gives you a feeling for the size and grandeur of the complex.
The outstanding Chapel flouted a number of architectural rules at the time of building in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries, leading some critics of the day to disparage it somewhat. Today it is widely accepted as a masterpiece.
There is no doubting the grandeur of the architecture all around.
Just to prove we were there.
You can tell from the photos that it wasn't a balmy night in Versailles. In fact it was a lot colder than it had been at home!
Time to find some musical fountains.
The fountains were easy to find - there are a lot of them and some are very large and they are set in epic designed landscapes. This one, which wasn't working while we were there, is the Latona Fountain and it tells the tale of Latona, mother of Apollo and Diana. Zeus was their father, and his consort, Juno, was a bit annoyed about this. She cursed Latona and her children to wander the earth without any hospitality from mortals. She went for a drink one day and the locals kicked up the mud in the pond, making the water unfit to drink. Latona was not happy and turned the locals into frogs, which are represented round the fountain.
It was originally started in 1670 and has been altered a few times since then.
There were a few people about, but it was not packed, which was a little surprising as the Palace and Gardens attract over 15,000,000 visitors a year, making them one of the most visited sites in the world.
This fountain is Apollo rising from the sea on his chariot pulled by 4 horses. It was built in 1668 and is really very impressive. However, the fountain was not working!
Some more fountains were found.
None of them were working either!
We could also hear music in the various groves around the grand carpet leading to the canal.
Finally we found a working fountain, but it was a modern one from about 2011, replacing an earlier fountain and grove destroyed in a storm in 1999.
By now we were cold and fed up at the lack of water displays. We had found out that all but a few are switched off at 5 o'clock!
We walked up the hill back to the Palace, turned round and here was Neptune's fountain in full flow!
It didn't quite save the day, but at least we got a bit of an idea of what it was all about. By now we were desperate for a drink. We found a little pub fairly easily, although Chris seems to have magically forgotten his wallet!
After a couple of drinks, we found our way to a restaurant for dinner. This being France, we went to an Italian restaurant. It was a little family place with a good atmosphere and the food and wine were rather tasty.
3 of us had a very tasty rigatoni with gorgonzola sauce, whilst Chris had a pizza.
Day 2 Wednesday 7th May 2025
We were up relatively early as the car needed to be moved before the parking ticket expired! We had a very nice breakfast at the hotel. The owner's wife had made the fruit preserves and a lemon cake for us. There was fresh fruit, cheese, ham and pastries. It was delightful and just what we needed before we tried to find our way out of the city to get to Bayeux.
Bayeux was probably colder than Versailles and we were all in need of a cup of something hot and, perhaps, a cake. Luckily we quickly stumbled on this gem of a café. Well, it was actually the Patisserie de Guillaume and it was a true delight. The cakes on display in the window dragged us in off the street.
We went upstairs and the remarkably talented waitress managed to negotiate the spiral stairs with a huge tray of coffee, tea and cakes. It was well worth her effort. The cakes were magnificent. Sandra had the strawberry tart, Chris had a praline, Ferrero Roche type of cake, Sharon had a raspberry meringue and I had a chocolate and hazelnut creation named after Guillaume himself. I met him downstairs afterwards and congratulated him. Fabulous.
Our next stop was to be the Bayeux Tapestry. So we had a little wander through Bayeux, which really is a charming place.
Much of what we passed was along the banks of the river Aure, which runs through Bayeux. The river was important for cotton mills and it was also used in this part of town to feed a number of washhouses. One of these is shown on the photo below.
The Aure has been heavily canalised through the medieval town.
This is the smallest house in France. It is available for rent to tourists, but it is a bit of a squeeze at only 16 square metres.
It is all really quaint and attractive.
As with about half a million tourists who come here every year, we were going to see the Bayeux Tapestry. The Tapestry is not actually a tapestry, but an embroidery. It is also enormous. It is over 68 metres long, although only about half a metre wide. It is thought that it might have been longer or, perhaps, unfinished.
It is not possible to take photos of the work, so here is one I lifted from a guide book.
The Tapestry Museum is within the Grand Seminary of Bayeux, which dates from 1693, although the tapestry was only moved there in 1983.
Once we had been amazed by the Tapestry, we went to find our accommodation, passing by the Cathedral, which opened for business in 1077. It was built for Bishop Odo, who was William the Conqueror's half brother and the man who is thought to have commissioned the making of the Tapestry. The Cathedral is an enormous building for town of only 12700 people.
We were on our way to Clos de la Croix, the garden or enclosure of the cross. This charming house presents a closed façade to the street of the butchers. You cannot see into the courtyard beyond the walls and the huge and heavy double gate. Nor can you be sure which of the unassuming gates fronting onto a car park at the rear of the house is the one leading to the house itself. We spent some time and a number of texts and emails trying to get in. Once we did, we were very pleased with what we found.
The owners, Gilles and Michael could not have been more welcoming and enthusiastic. Rightly so. Their house is one of the quirkiest and delightful that we have stayed in. There is a surprising curiosity around every corner. The eclectic mix of paintings, objets d'art and just plain weirdness is astonishing.
Sharon and I had the top floor room, which is named the room of Athanase, who owned the house from 1806 to 1889. Athanase is derived from the Greek for eternal life and is a name used more frequently in France than in Scotland. You don't hear many wifies in Glasgow shouting from the tenement window "Haw, Athanase, get in here, your dinner's on the table". The room has a great view of the Cathedral and contains many original features, including the roof timbers (although some of these have been altered to allow for taller people not to be decapitated.
We had a bit of a rest and freshen up before we went in search of dinner. Here we are outside Clos de la Croix, ready to hit the town.
Le Marsala was a lively restaurant with a range of more traditional dishes as well as more standard fare. Something for everyone.
I really enjoyed my lobster panna cotta. It was really very good indeed.
Sharon and Sandra had some Goat's cheese samosas.
We all had a variation of pork for main. I had confit pork in cider and calvados and the others had slow cooked pork in cider. As seems to be a bit of a thing in France, they came with a little basket of frites. The pork was delicious.
Sandra could not stop herself from tucking into Crème Brule.
Sharon and I shared an apple tarte Tatin. Chris had one as well.
We wandered back to our beds, full and pretty happy.
We slept with the curtains open so as to take in the illuminated Cathedral spires.
A fine way to end the day.
Day 3 Thursday 8th May 2025
There was an equally fine start to the next day. As we made our way down to breakfast, we had a bit more time to look about the house we were staying in.
There was a nice view into the garden from the upper staircase window.
There was a tiny, intriguing library occupying what must once have been a mundane cupboard.
Then it was time for breakfast. What a sumptuous table the boys had set for us.
Then it was time for breakfast. What a sumptuous table the boys had set for us.
The room is crammed with collectables and the table settings are wonderfully varied. The food was pretty good as well - fruit, cheese, charcuterie, yoghurt, juices, breads and pastries as well as tea and coffee.
Gilles and Michael were interested in our plans for the day and both suggested we should visit the British Normandy memorial to see the silhouettes. We had never heard of the British memorial nor the silhouettes, so we added it into our itinerary for the day. Our plan was to drive east and then back along the coast to visit a number of Second World War sites.
Site number 1 was the Pegasus Bridge, site of a daring and dangerous Allied glider assault on German positions guarding the bridges across the Caen Canal and the nearby River Orne. This was begun ahead of the D-Day landings and the taking of the bridges was critical to the success of the landings. Given that the gliders essentially crash landed, there was no going back once the troops were on the ground. They had to secure the bridge over the canal to prevent them being destroyed or being used to reinforce German forces that might mount a counter attack against the forces landing on the beaches.
The bridge has been replaced and the original is now a war memorial and and important part of the Pegasus Bridge museum and interpretive centre which we visited.
Here we are on the original bridge.
The museum was fascinating and hugely informative. We spent a lot longer there than we had intended initially. Engineers among you will realise from the picture that the original (and the replacement) is a Bascule Bridge. Effectively, the curved rollers at one end of the bridge roll back on tracks and hold the road surface when the bridge opens to allow vessels to pass along the canal.
You can see some of the damage caused during the battle to secure the bridge.
This is a copy of one of the gliders used to carry up to 30 troops silently into France. The pilots were not trained airmen, but fighting soldiers.
Next to the museum, there is an oasis of calm, with butterflies and birds among the bushes and ponds. A complete contrast to the noise of battle that must have been all around 81 years ago. Despite the dangers of the operation only two Allied soldiers were killed. Lieutenant Den Brotheridge was killed crossing the bridge and was the first Allied soldier to be killed by enemy fire in the D-Day invasion.
They were reinforced later in the day. Remarkably one of those reinforcements was a certain Lieutenant Richard Todd who went on to play Major Howard in the film ' The Longest Day' which is about the D-Day landings.
We were running a bit behind time, now, so we went on to the British Normandy Memorial as recommended by Gilles and Michael. We managed a quick bite to eat before going to the memorial itself, which was formally opened in 2021. Up until then, Britain had no single memorial which listed the names of all those who died on D-Day and during the battle of Normandy. Britain was the only principal Allied nation not to have such a memorial.
The memorial overlooks Gold Beach and comprises 160 pillars arranged round a huge courtyard. There is a memorial wall, which carries the names of those killed on D-Day. The 160 pillars carry the names of those killed in the following days of the Battle of Normandy.
In all, there are 22,422 names listed. Yes, 22,422!
4 of those commemorated were 16 years old. Only 2 were women - nurses who died when their hospital ship hit a mine. Sidney Bates VC is the only name marked with a medal, which he won in August when he charged enemy tanks. He died from his wounds two days later.
All of the columns list the names, rank and age of those who fell on each day following on from D-Day. Sobering is not the word.
The memorial wall listing the D-Day casualties was behind these life sized silhouettes.
The silhouettes were a foretaste of what we had fleetingly seen on our approach to this point. Beyond the wall were 1475 more silhouettes. They stand in the fields representing the 1475 people under British command who died on the very first day of D-Day. The installation is called For Your Tomorrow and was made by a collective called Standing with Giants.
It is an astonishing and poignant sight.
The site also includes a memorial to the estimated 20,000 French civilians who died before and after D-Day in Normandy.
The bronze D-Day sculpture was created by David Williams-Ellis, whose father supported the landings while commanding a Royal Navy vessel.
The silhouettes might seem like ghosts to some. To me they seemed like the empty space left behind when each of the people represented died. An emptiness that would never be filled and darkness that would never be illuminated by the light of a future life.
I think we were all so glad and sad to have seen this. We would never have known but for Gilles and Michael.
We moved on to the German gun emplacements at Longues sur Mer, passing the Mulberry Harbour remains at Arromanches.
The battery of guns here bombarded the Allied forces off Gold and Omaha beaches until it was neutralised by shore bombardment, before being captured by ground forces. The battery is the only one hereabouts to retain most of its guns.
By now it was getting to be very cold as we were right on the coast and the wind was biting. So much so, that Sandra had to abandon us and get back to the car.
The gun emplacements were in amazing condition considering their age and the past conflict.
The signs of conflict were still clearly visible.
This was another astonishing side to the battle and well worth the visit, despite the cold.
By now we were way over the time we had expected to take for the drive, so we started to head back to Bayeux, hoping to find a little café for some hot drinks and a cake! Luckily we found one not too far away.
After a rest and a freshen up it was time for dinner at Le Moulin de la Galette.
What better way to start a meal than with a cocktail!
Sandra's was still blue from the cold!
I had the Savoyard which had potato, melted Emmental and onion with bacon.
Chris had one with cheese, onions and ham.
Sandra had the mushroom, lardons and hazelnuts and egg.
Sharon had egg, mushrooms, pesto, tomato and cider cooked mushrooms.
I forced myself to have a crepe with apples, almonds and calvados.
Sharon and Chris did not resist either.
After that, it was home for a nightcap and a good night's sleep.
Day 4 Friday 9th May 2025
Now it was time for us to leave Bayeux and head east. First, however, we needed breakfast and Sharon was racing down the elegant stone staircase to get to the table first!
The table was sumptuous as always and Team Abba (the name given to us by our hosts) were entertained by Gilles and Michael while we ate. The highlight was a fruit crumble made by Gilles with love, he said, while demonstrating his technique on Chris's shoulder. I have to say none of us has ever eaten a crumble for breakfast, but it was utterly delicious and I, for one, will be trying out in the future.
It was a sunnier day and a bit warmer than we had experienced up until now. On our way to the car, we took the chance to take a few photos of the garden, which really was quite lovely.
We even managed to sit in the sun.
Gilles and Michael stood in the sun. I am sure we would stay here again if ever we are in Bayeux, which is certainly a lovely town.
As we headed east, the weather became sunnier and warmer and we decided to make a detour into Honfleur to have a walk about in the sunshine.
Honfleur was once a very important port for France and, indeed, the founder of Quebec, Champlain, sailed to Canada from Honfleur. It was hugely profitable in trading terms, but limitations in accommodating ever larger vessels meant the it declined in popularity and now is much more dependent on leisure craft, although larger cruise ships can access the newer outer harbour.
It is a remarkably picturesque town, so it attracts huge numbers of tourists, a lot of whom appeared to be there when we arrived. The typical tall and narrow houses add to the charm of the place. Rich merchants had to have a house overlooking the harbour and the demand for space meant narrow frontages became the norm
We were on the lookout for somewhere to have a coffee.
And, we found it.
After a coffee, we went for an ice cream and a wander around the harbour.
This is the church of Sainte Catherine. It is the oldest and largest wooden church in France and dates from 1496. Inside the ceiling has the appearance of an upturned hull of a boat, reflecting the maritime heritage of the town.
After our little tour around Honfleur, we set off for Puchevillers British Cemetery. This is where James Marchbank was buried. He was the great uncle of my cousins, James, Andrew and Michael Marchbank. James, the soldier, fought in the Battle of the Somme and was killed on 8th October 1916. Canadian troops, as part of the British Expeditionary Force, were involved in the Battle of Ancre Heights. This was a complete failure, with the Canadian troops suffering enormous losses. The failure of the offensive was largely down to a refusal of command to change plans despite intelligence to the effect that the German defences had barely been affected by artillery bombardment. At the start of the action on 7th October, the 49th Battalion, in which James served, was already reduced to 463 fighting men out of 1100. By the end of the 8th October only 150 men were left.
Puchevillers cemetery contains 1763 graves, of which 213 are Canadian. James Marchbank had emigrated to Canada from Moffat in 1912. He was 23 when he died.
The cemetery, which is one of more than 100 war cemeteries, is in the middle of peaceful farmland. It is quite a lonely and tranquil spot, completely at odds with what I can only imagine was the horror of battle.
James and his battalion had moved to the front from the town of Albert, which is where we were staying for the night. Unlike James, we had nice hotel room, with a comfy bed and a bar that provided us with charcuterie and a glass of wine.
Later, in the evening, we walked into the centre of Albert. From all around you can see the steeple of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Brebieres. James would have seen the Basilica when he was there. It is right in the centre of town and is of huge significance to the local population and, specifically, to the events of the the First and Second World Wars.
We were not really that aware of the significance of the church, other than knowing it had been rebuilt, along with most of the town following the war. The town had been reduced to rubble and rebuilding had partially been financed by donation from Birmingham. We were looking for a restaurant opposite the Cathedral and close to the Rue de Birmingham
Le Bistrot did exactly what it said on the tin and served up simple, tasty food.
Chris had a pasta dish with salmon.
Sandra had a chicken salad.
I had a bavette steak and frites.
Sharon had a salad of goat's cheese and lardons.
It was all good and we headed back to the hotel.
There was a large group of classic car owners staying and they had a celebration dinner arranged. We were looking for a seat for a nightcap, which the staff managed to get for us. Once the car owners had left for their main course, the staff were happy to give us some of the extra amuse bouche that were overprovided.
We had a nice wee snack of artichoke cream, tapenade and a spicy tomato sauce.
A nice way to end the evening before we went to bed, before a long day tomorrow.
Day 5 Saturday 10th May 2025
It was another fine, sunny day and after a good night's sleep and a fine breakfast, we drove back to the centre of Albert, specifically to visit the Somme museum. Albert, in common with other towns hereabouts is underlain by tunnels dating as far back as the 13th Century. They were used as air raid shelters in WW2, but some of them now house a museum detailing trench life in the Battle of the Somme.
We descended 10 metres into the cool tunnels.
There is a 250 metre walk through the tunnels, with numerous alcoves and displays showing various facets of life in the trenches.
There was even a poor specimen who had to make a sudden (and, happily successful) rush for the latrines!
There were cap badges and buttons from uniforms. These are from the West Yorkshire Regiment, which is the one that Chris's grandfather Samuel Williams served in.
These are from the Tyneside Scottish Regiment where Garnet Fyfe, my Great Uncle, served.
These were almost tangible links with the people we were making this trip to find.
We left the tunnels through a sound and light recreation of bombardment of trenches and into the tranquillity of a garden of remembrance.
Back to street level and we were faced with this fine mural.
We were now going to pay a quick visit to the Basilica just ahead.
Albert went through terrible destruction in the war. It was captured by the Germans in March 1918 and then liberated by the British in August of that year. By this time the whole town was in ruins. The city of Birmingham financially supported the rebuilding of much of the town in an Art Deco style. The cathedral was rebuilt in the Neo-Byzantine style as it was originally. It is definitely different from the vast majority of churches you tend to see , which are often Gothic in style. The use of gold and tiling fantastic.
What made the Basilica so important to the town was the bell tower, which is surmounted by a statue of Notre Dame de Brebieres. She was a symbol of the town and when the tower was hit by German artillery shells, the statue fell over, but not down to the ground. The statue of the gold virgin became famed as it hung to the top of the tower. The legend grew that the town would be free and the war would end only when she fell. That happened after the British Freed the town. It is unclear whether she fell as a result of a British shell trying to dislodge German artillery spotters or whether the Germans demolished the tower before they left Albert. Whatever the truth of the matter, the fall of the statue presaged the fall of the German Army a few months later.
Some time before the golden virgin fell, the first Battle of the Somme took place nearby. This began on the1st July 1916 and the signal for the start was the detonation of an enormous underground mine under the German lines near the tiny village of La Boisselle. The hole left by the explosion of the mines is said to be the largest crater made by man in anger and the sound of it was allegedly heard in London!.
For all that, it seems smaller than you expect, but the impact of a walk around it is enormous.
You can walk around the edge of the crater and there are interpretive boards all around, with stories of the people involved.
The mine exploded at 0728 on 1st July. The soldiers who charged the enemy lines were all "pals" battalions and had not been into battle before. Among them were battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers - essentially the Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish regiments. Two minutes after the explosion, the men left their trenches and advanced on the German lines. Over 75% became casualties, including Lance Corporal Piper Garnet Fyfe, who died piping his regiment into the battle over 730 metres of no-man's-land. The whole Division involved in the assault suffered 6500 casualties on that single day.
By my reckoning, he died in the fields in this photo.
We left the Lochnagar Crater with the words of Harry Patch, imprinted in our minds. He talked of his experiences elsewhere in France much later. He said "It wasn't worth it. No war is worth it....The First World War, if you boil it down, what was it? Nothing but a family row. That's what caused it. T'isn't worth it."
It was only a short distance to Ovilliers Cemetery where Garnet Fyfe is buried.
Here is his headstone.
We were going to carry on to see if we could find where Chris's grandfather Samuel Williams is commemorated. On the way we would be passing the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel, so we stopped off there in the sunshine.
Newfoundland was a dominion of the British Empire and, so, when Britain declared war those Dominions were also at war. 5% of the population served in uniform. On 1st July 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment attacked the German lines near Beaumont and Hamel villages. In less than half an hour more than 700 were killed, wounded or missing.
A huge bronze caribou forms a memorial at this site and at others in France and Belgium. It looks out over the enemy lines.
You can also walk along the line of the trenches.
There are still remnants of barbed wire defences visible on the ground along with notices warning of the dangers of unexploded ordnance.
After a wee snack in the sun, we made the short drive to Vis-en Artois cemetery and memorial. This cemetery contains 2369 burials, of which 1458 are unidentified. In addition there is a memorial wall which lists nearly 10000 casualties with no known grave. These 10000 were killed between 8th August 1918 and the end of the Armistice.
Chris's grandfather is one of those 10000. He died on 7th October 1918 aged 36. At that time, The West Yorkshire Regiment was part of the 8th Division of the First Army and was involved in the final advance in Artois, liberating the French coalfields, Lens and Douai.
Here is his name on the memorial.
It had been a long hot day, so we carried on to our hotel in Arras. Once we navigated the roadworks to get to the hotel car park, checked in and the freshened up a bit, we went to the bar for a cold drink and another wee charcuterie board. My beer looks larger than it really was, but the barman had convinced me it was the best beer to have. It was also the strongest and I became a little grumpy later in the evening, but I don't think anyone really noticed!
Chris had a chicken burger and Sharon had the chilli.
I had a Thai Chicken curry.
Sandra had chicken burrito.
Not exactly traditional French cuisine, but filling, before heading back to the hotel.
Day 6 Sunday 11th May 2025
There was no rush for breakfast as we had booked a tour of the Carriere Wellington at 1130. So we had a very good, leisurely breakfast before walking to the site. We had intended to drive, but luckily had spotted that the nearby roads were closed because of a flea market. It was a lovely day, so the walk was fine, noisy and lively, but we didn't buy anything!
Carriere Wellington is the name given to an underground quarry, carriere being French for quarry. Arras has many underground caverns and tunnels. A plan was devised to join these tunnels and cavern up to create a huge quarry, capable of holding thousands of troops and their equipment prior to a surprise attack on German lines during the First World War. The tunnels were to be dug by New Zealand tunnellers and there is a monument to these workers just outside.
On the inside of the monument, are these depictions of the miners as well as copies of graffiti from inside the tunnels and facsimiles of letters they wrote back home.
The entrance.
The tours are guided and, because the ceiling can be quite low and hard in places, you have to wear a rather fetching helmet!
The caves can be quite labyrinthian and there was a numbering convention to ensure the tunnellers did not get lost.
The red arrows and writing were from the Second World War and the black from the First!
Graffiti was much in evidence. This shows a New Zealand tunneller with their characteristic Lemon Squeezer hat.
Of course, there were plenty of initials.
There were videos projected onto the walls to explain various aspects of what was happening. The plan was to surprise the German Army in the north, while the French would take advantage of this diversion and press forward in the south. The tunnels were based on existing networks and then made much larger to hold up to 20000 troops, a field hospital, kitchens, latrines and even running water, electricity and a light railway system.
There were enormous ventilation and extraction shafts, some of which had been there for hundreds of years.
I wonder who OW was.
Whilst our little group of visitors was walking through the tunnels, I couldn't help but think that this might have been what it was like, just very much more cramped and certainly more smelly!
Soldiers will always find a way to have a drink, but there were even ketchup and HP sauce bottles left there for over 100 years!
Then it was time for the final explosions and for the troops to get out of the tunnels and into the April snow and enemy gunfire. The audio and the shadows on the walls were really very atmospheric.
Soon we were out and blinking into the sunshine. We had all found this to be quite awesome and all the more poignant in that the diversion had worked and if the Allies had pushed on, they may have won the day. However, the French waited a week to attack at the south while in the north supplies were running out and troops were exhausted. The momentum was lost and the war dragged on for another year.
As part of the April 1917 offensive, Canadian troops fought to take Vimy Ridge. It was the first time all 4 corps of the Canadian Division had fought together. It took 4 days to capture the ridge and nearly 3000 Canadians died in the battle.
The Memorial is on a gigantic scale and can be seen from some distance. It was designed in 1921 by Canadian architect and sculptor Walter Seymour Allward and took until 1936 to be formally unveiled. The figures, which are part of the memorial are twice life-size and are heavily symbolic.
Perhaps the most striking figure is that of Canada Bereft, representing a young nation mourning her dead.
All of the statues were carved on the site from blocks of limestone, although Canada Bereft was the only one to be carved from a single block of stone.
Around the walls of the memorial are carved the names of 11200 Canadians who died in France, but whose Grave was unknown.
To show the scale of the monument, this is Sharon on the front steps. It really is something to behold.
Whilst workers were waiting for the delivery of stone to construct the memorial, Allward noted that the system of trenches was already eroding and collapsing. He set the workforce to recreating a section of trenches and tunnels, using concrete instead of sandbags. Some of this network is now open for a short tour, which we took.
We started underground in the communication tunnels. Runners would carry messages here in complete darkness, but a degree of safety. Above ground, the average life expectancy of a runner was less than three weeks.
The trenches here were deep and remarkably, at points, were less than 25 metres form the German trenches!
Trenches were dug in a meandering fashion and often with branches off to one side. This was to minimise the range of gunfire within the trench.
They are a bit more peaceful now.
From Vimy we continued towards the French National Necropolis. This is the largest national cemetery in France and it contains the remains of 43000 soldiers who died in the First World War. Less than half of these are in marked graves, the remainder are unknown. This site also has a museum, chapel and lantern tower.
Whilst we were not there to see the Necropolis, it was impossible not to be awestruck by the sheer scale of loss represented here.
This is the chapel, which is not as old as it looks. The original was destroyed during the war.
The lantern tower is a common enough feature associated with churches - letting light into the vast spaces that churches often include. However, this tower is separate from the church and actually casts light out, like a landlocked lighthouse. The purpose is so that people will not forget the sacrifice. Below the tower is an ossuary, which contains the bones of untold unknown soldiers. It is one of four ossuaries at the site.
There are seemingly endless rows of crosses marking individual burials.
We were actually here to see commemoration on an even larger scale. The Ring of Memory is a memorial to all those who lost their lives in this part of France.
It is a huge ring made from steel and concrete, unveiled in 2014. Part of the ring, which is bigger than 3 football pitches, is cantilevered off the ground.
There are 500 panels, 499 of which have up to 1200 names engraved upon them. These are not distinguished by age, rank or nationality. They arranged alphabetically. So, friend and foe are remembered together. The artist, Phillipe Prost, said "No ranks, no nationalities, just a dizzying list of the human stories that ended on France's northern battlefields."
It is a staggering thing to behold. There are almost 580000 names recorded here.
The names included James Marchbank....
...and Samuel Ralph Williams.
Garnet Fyfe did not seem to be there, and that may be that he died outside the part of France that the memorial represents. There was a G D C Fyfe, but he was G W Fyfe.
The use of names rather than nationalities means that friend and foe are joined as a sign of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The 500th panel is empty. This is because even now, remains of soldiers are discovered and they can be added to the Ring of Memory.
What an amazing place this was.
After that sobering experience, we headed for the hotel and then in search of dinner in the Grand' Place. This is a very large and fine square surrounded by Baroque Flemish houses presenting gables to the square. Many of these houses were destroyed in one or both of the World Wars. They have been rebuilt since the end of the Second World War to replicate as far as possible what was there before the destruction.
We had booked Le Ch'ti Charivari, a traditional northern French restaurant. We sat outside in the evening sun and enjoyed a drink before we ate. The ladies liked the champagne.
The gentlemen enjoyed a cold beer.
Dinner was a flamboyant affair. Our steak had been cut into big cubes, fried and then stuck on to a specially made, very hot round thing with little hooks specially made for the job. Then it was flambeed with whisky (she said). Below the meat and the whisky was a gratin of onion, potato and cheese. It was fantastic.
This was it before the flames engulfed it.
We also shared a Raclette - a large chunk of cheese attached to a very hot electric grill, which soon melted the cheese into two little dishes.
They gave us a plate of charcuterie to dip into the melted cheese, although pouring it over the meat was apparently more than acceptable.
Not only that, but you got a big bucket of tatties to dip into the cheese as well.
It was all utterly splendid and had next to no calories in it.
In order to address that lack, Chris had a tiramisu.
Sandra could not resist a Crème Brulé.
Sharon had a coconut meringue.
I, on the other hand, had nothing, being quite replete as it was.
After all that, it was time to stagger to the hotel and fall asleep!
Day 7 Monday 12th May 2025
That was our trip almost over and we were off back to the airport after a hearty breakfast.
We had plenty of time for our journey as we were not flying until the Tuesday, but we wanted to drop off the car without any hassles in the morning. So, we decided to stop at Chantilly Chateau on the way. It is very grand.
It really is everything you expect a French Chateau to be. Having said that, it is not the original building. The original was built about 1530 and it was destroyed during the French Revolution. It was partially rebuilt and then between 1875 and 1882 for Henri of Orleans. It was bequeathed to the French state as the price for his return from political exile in 1889.
The original building passed to The Grand Conde in 1632. He is regarded as one of the greatest of French military figures and was much celebrated in his lifetime. When King Louis XIV visited him, his Maître d'Hotel committed suicide because he feared the fish course would be served late. A bit of an overreaction if you ask me!
The chateau is renowned for its art collection, which is one of the finest in France. The decoration of the salons within the castle are opulent and flamboyant as you might expect.
The castle sits beside Chantilly racecourse, which in turn is overlooked by the Grand Stables. These are reputed to be the grandest stables in the world and they were restored using donations from people like the Aga Khan.
Perhaps the most famous painting in the collection is Raphael's Three Graces dating from about 1500. Without making any comment, it was said that this was the first time Raphael had painted the naked female body from both front and back.
The castle sits beside Chantilly racecourse, which in turn is overlooked by the Grand Stables. These are reputed to be the grandest stables in the world and they were restored using donations from people like the Aga Khan.
Whilst the building now contains a museum and a riding school, it once housed 240 horses and up to 500 hounds.
It was built in 1719 for Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon and Prince of Conde. He believed that he would be reincarnated as a horse after his death, so he ordered his architect to build a stables that suited his rank in society!
As you might expect, there were horses everywhere, including these two in the training ring.
Not all the horses were real.
The horses are trained in dressage and they also put on a show for visitors every day. When they're not doing that they are housed in the stables and you can walk along there and see them. They all have different personalities.
This one seemed the cheekiest to me.
Once we had had a good look at the horses we had a look at the racecourse stands and noticed the dark clouds gathering.
We should have done that about 20 minutes earlier and then we would have avoided becoming completely and utterly drenched getting to the car in the subsequent downpour. Boy, did it pleut!
Once we got to the car, we set off, steaming gently, towards our hotel at the airport. We unloaded our stuff and then Sandra and Chris set off on the short journey to refuel and return the car. Well, it should have been a short journey. After 3 hours, they were still not back! It turned out that while Sharon and I were having a quiet drink in the bar, they were driving in circles, with haywire sat nav and no idea of how to get the car to the return point. To say that the atmosphere was fraught would be an understatement.
However, it was eventually returned and they got back to the hotel, had a drink, some food and all was more or less well.
All that remained was for us to have a decent sleep and then get to the airport and fly home. That is what we did.
All in all it was a very successful trip. We saw what we wanted to see and more. If it had been warmer at the start, drier and technically ok at the end, it would have been perfect!
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