Touring the Somme battlefields

We had the most fabulous day today. We caught the 7.35 train to Amiens, an hour north east of Paris, to go on a guided tour of some of the WW I battle fields. There were two other Australian couples, plus an Irishman. We travelled together in a mini-van with Laia, our guide. She was excellent and as we visited places I have heard about for decades, she brought the events of WW I to life.

This is the Villers Bretonneux war cemetery, just out of the village. It lists the Australian soldiers who died fighting on the Western Front in 1918. Nearby in the village, which has taken Australia to heart, we visited the local primary school, rebuilt after the war with donations from Australian school children.

We visited Poziers and Albert and saw the remains of trenches still visible in the fields and some that had been left as they were 100 years ago. The love this part of France has for the Australian soldiers who helped push the Germans back to the east, has given us both a better sense of our history. 

We loved the French countryside, the village cafe at Albert where we stopped for lunch - the whole day was magic. 

We also got to learn a bit more about the French rail system and how having a ticket is really optional. On our way back I had to print out our tickets from a computer ticket terminal, a bit like you do at the airport. I think we got on the train back to Paris with 3.5 seconds to spare. At no stage did anyone look at or ask for our tickets! And we sat in first class with 2nd class tickets! Vive la France!

Both the husbands of the other two couples had both worked for Telstra (as I did away back in the day) and so we had lots of stuff in common.

Tomorrow - a quieter day in Paris before we pack for an early start on Sunday to catch our train to Rome.

Our guide.

An old German fortified basement..

Wild poppies along the side of the road.