PARIS
Our trip to Paris was in early March, so this blog will be a little out of sequence, but finding the time to write about all the places we went, and the things we saw has taken some time.
We arrive into Paris and easily locate the campground in the Bois de Bologne, located only a short Metro ride from the centre of the city.
This is one of the most spectacular parks in Europe, this 846 square hectare park was once a forest for royal hunts, bear, deer, wolves and wild boar all hunted. During the Revolution the forest provided refuge for many until English and Russian armies set up camp here. Napoleon 111 gave the forest to the capital in 1852 and since then, lakes with their own islands, waterfalls, two racecourses, museums, cafes and restaurants provide enjoyment for it’s visitors.
Not to be daunted by the drizzle we set off for Les Invalides and it’s Musée de l’Armée.
THE TOUR de FRANCE
The real reason we were in Lourdes is because this July, one stage of this famous bike race passes right through Lourdes and finishes just up the road at Tarbes.
This is one of the few high mountain stages of the race, with the riders in this stage crossing the Pyrenees, climbing sometimes for 20k constantly uphill. Driving this road with it’s hairpin turns and steep vertical drops is exhausting, we can only imagine what it must be like for the cyclists.
If it is possible, we will come back to France to watch the race, but at least now watching it on TV we have more of an idea of the difficulty of the terrain the riders do cover.
LOURDES
Muslims turn to Mecca, but for Catholics, Lourdes is the world’s most evocative shrine. Visited annually by 5 million visitors, many looking for a cure by it’s holy water
Story has it that in 1858 the Virgin Mary revealed herself to a young girl named Bernadette, she was then guided to a spring with miraculous healing powers.
We brave the rain to walk to the spring that’s in a cave where a church service is held on the hour, passing by a massive building solely used for confession, Brian took advantage and popped in for a few minutes, I must admit he did look holier when he came back out.
From the holy spring we filled an empty 1 litre bottle, so this year for Christmas, no lovely leather wallets from Italy, it’s subscriptions to Lourdes Magazine and a little bottle of holy water for our families.
Lourdes also has a tacky souvenir alley that rivals Niagara Falls.
BIARRITZ
We had been looking forward to finally seeing the coast again, but the day we arrived in Biarritz the weather was against us. Rain blowing horizontal by a cold wind and even the surfers were staying inside today. We stopped in the car-park, boiled the kettle and had a cup of tea and some lunch, then walked to the end of a rocky promontory, took a couple of pictures and hurried back to the van to warm up.
DUNE du PILAT
Is an immense sand dune, measuring 105 meters high, nearly 3 kilometres long and 500 meters wide is the largest sand formation in Europe. It is said to have over 1 million visitors a year, and being not too far out of our way, we decide to go and see it for ourselves.
I must say it is impressive in size, and the fact that it is steadily moving inland at a rate of 4 meters a year, but what was really impressive was how stuck in the sand we managed to get ourselves.
Luckily with the help of a handsome young Frenchman, driving an old Land Rover (like Brian once owned), that I was able to stop by standing on the roadside wildly waving my arms, we managed to finally escape the clutches of the sands of the Dune du Pilat.
P.S. We were so thankful to this young man, we gave him one of our ‘special’ bottles of wine that we had bought in Bordeaux, I still believe it was a good deal.
BORDEAUX
As you probably know Brian and I both enjoy a glass of ‘Red’ on occasion, so we naturally head next to Bordeaux.
We pass through vineyards as far as the eye can see and see names only seen before on wine labels in the locked cabinets at the wine store.
Château Margaux, Châteaux Mouton-Rothschild, Latour and of course Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild, all in the most beautiful grounds and with cellers containing vintage bottles that date back to 1797.
Not all of the 1000’s of vineyards that are in this area were open, luckily, but we did manage to visit a few, sample and purchase a selection of vintages that we enjoyed.
One older viticulteur, Monsieur Pelon, took a bit of a liking to us, and as it was a fairly quiet day took the time to tell about his vineyard, which had been in his family since 1646. With and annual production is 90 Bordeaux tonneaux of wine, he has obtained numerous medals as a reward for it’s quality, which rank it among the most appreciated of the Haut-Médoc Crus Bourgeois.
THE LOIRE VALLEY and it’s CHATEAU’S
Bordered by vineyards, the winding Loire Valley cuts through the land of castles and legends from Medieval times.
Of the ones we visited ‘Chenonceaux’, the romantic pleasure palace, is best known for the remarkable women who lived there more so than it’s splendid architecture, is the favourite of mine.
Catherine de Medici, wife of Henry II and Diane de Poitiers, 20 years his senior and the mistress of the King since he was 12 years old, both lived at ‘Chenonceaux’ at the same time, with the King reportedly moving nightly between the bedrooms of both woman .
Both these women added their own marks. Formal gardens with plants introduced from far off countries and a bridge that was later turned into a covered walkway that spans the River Cher, which this impressive Château is built alongside. Priceless tapestries, original furniture and artwork from the 16th century decorate this castle today.
The Chapel, with it’s Royal Gallery from where the Queens attended mass, and exquisite stained glass windows, paintings and marble statues.
Being early Spring the gardens were only starting to bloom, but you could already see how beautiful they would be in the full bloom of summer.
CARNAC and it’s PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS
The Megalithic tribes that once roamed this area in Brittany in 4000 BC, arranged massive granite rocks in mysterious lines and patterns, their significance remains obscure but was probably religious, although the precise patterns also suggest an early astronomical calendar.
2,732 menhirs or monumental stones, some as high as 20m, stand in more or less straight lines in at least three separate fields. Standing at the raised viewing platform at the end of the last field, you have to marvel at the sight and number of these massive stones, and how and why they are here.
MONT ST MICHEL
Shrouded by mist, encircled by the sea the silhouette of Mont St Michel is one of the most enchanting sites in Normandy.
From it’s humble 8th century beginning as an oratory or place of prayer to become a Benedictine monastery that still used to this day.
As we tour this impressive fortified structure, with it’s many levels built over the centuries, we again marvel at the ingenuity of the men who built this impressive structure.
THE BATTLEFIELDS of THE SOMME
To the north west of Paris lies an area known as The Somme.
It was here that some of the bloodiest battles of World War I took place.
Germany declared war on France on August 3rd 1914, followed by the British declaration of war on Germany the following day. All the dominions of the British Empire declared their support, including Australia. Andrew Fisher the Australian Prime Minister at that time promised Australia would commit herself “to the last man and the last shilling”
That marked the birth of the A.I.F, The Australian Imperial Forces, 417,000 Australian’s volunteered to fight, 331,000 served overseas. The final total of causalities reached 215,000, included 59,000 dead, incurring the heaviest number of casualties of all the dominions, 64.8%.
Brian’s great uncle, Ernest Minchinton was one of those brave soldiers that never returned, it was in his memory that we visited this area, to find the place where he was laid to rest.
VILLIERS-BRETONNEUX
It was here that the Australian troops halted the German offensive, and it was here at this imposing and moving memorial to the soldiers killed in action, we found the name of Brian’s great uncle Ernest. Engraved into a wall of brilliant white stone, flanked by two corner pavilions, it is included with the names of the missing soldiers who have no known graves.
Ernest Minchinton enlisted on Feb 1, 1916. He embarked from Melbourne on June 3rd 1916 with the 37th Battalion, B Company and was killed in action on the 10th of May, 1917. He was only 26 years old when he died here in France.
What strikes you is the vast number of white grave stones, row upon row, engraved with names and ages, most of these brave men under the age of 25.
LE HAMEL
A new Australian Memorial Park has recently been opened here, and displays explain the significance of this battle site, where for the first time combined infantry, artillery tanks and parachute troops were used in the successful attack, and this became a forerunner of modern war tactics.
It was also in the valley directly in front of the Le Hamel memorial that ‘The Red Baron’, Manfred von Richthofen, was shot down. After being engaged in the air by Canadian aircraft, the Red Baron flew directly over the Australian lines, and was finally bought down by their machine guns. The Australians then buried him with full military honours.
PĖRONNE
We spent two days here while visiting the various memorials to the soldiers from Australia, and had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Péronne. He was a gracious young man, who told us that there are still some older residents who recall with great emotion, the tall, friendly and warm-hearted men, with their characteristic appearance, wearing the famous hat with the turned back brim. And that Australians are always so welcome in the Somme, particularly in Péronne, as it was the Australian troops, which pushed the German’s back over the Hindenburg Line and freed this town from German occupation.
Ariems, Poziéres, Le Hamel, Péronne, Sailly-le-Sec, Corbie Plateau and of course Villers-Bretonneux, it was in these places that the young Australian troops battled on the ground and in trenches, turned into a morass by the incessant torrential rain that trapped men, animals and weapons, in a foul brown mush, many to never return home.
They say even to this day in the wet weather, when the ground is clear of tall growth, trench outlines are still plainly visible.
