Here is a summary of our recent 2 day trip to the Somme area of France. We did not visit every site on our list, but we did get to see quite a few places in the time available. Lots still to see next time, I feel we have only scratched the surface.
We took the early morning Eurotunnel crossing to Calais and set off for Arras. We were armed with a good detailed map of the area (very successful) and the satnav (not very successful). We were determined not to pay out any motorway tolls on this trip, hence the satnav, but weren't prepared for it sending us down various dead ends and round in circles!
We arrived at Vimy ridge, just north of Arras at about 11am. The memorial overlooks the Douai plain and is visually stunning, the more so as it has just been renovated. This is a Canadian memorial site and is very well kept and run, with guides on hand to answer questions and explain how the battle unfolded. Very clean toilets here as well. There is a visitor centre with more information a bit further down the road. You can see the trenches, some of which have been reconstructed, and shell holes and craters from mines still mark the landscape.
We found a quiet spot a bit further down the road to eat our packed lunch, we were so lucky with the weather for March, sunny and about 16c.
After lunch we proceeded south, past Arras, to just north of St Quentin. We wanted to find the graves of 4 soldiers who were sheltered by French villagers for 18 months, but eventually executed by the Germans. I had read about them in a book called A Foreign Field, by Ben Macintyre, a highly recommended read for anyone with an interest in the war. We found their graves quite easily in the churchyard at Le Catelet, and the place where they were executed, a few hundred yards up the road, which is marked with a plaque.
Having paid our respects, we decided to carry on to Albert for our overnight stop. We reached the Office de Tourisme at around 4pm and chose a Chambre d'Hotes for the night. The very helpful young man in the office telephoned for us, so we didn't need to struggle with our limited french.
As it was still light we visited the German cemetery at Fricourt. We were the only ones there and it was a very peaceful place, although somewhat sombre with all the rows of metal crosses. Most have 4 names on, 2 each side, there are about 17,000 soldiers buried there. In between all the crosses are some Jewish headstones, and of course we had to remind ourselves that this was the 1st World War, strange to think what happened later during the 2nd World War, when they had previously fought side by side.
We had a lovely meal in the evening in a nearby village, good value we thought, despite the exchange rate. Called it a day after that as we were tired after an early start.

To be continued