We had one more full day in France and Neil was keen to revisit the Australian National Memorial at Villers – Brettoneaux. Since our last visit in 2011 they have build a large museum there! The John Monash Centre, and it receives excellent reviews. We enjoyed a tasty breakfast of fruit, croissants and coffee and checked out for the fairly long drive. It took around 5 hours to reach the Memorial, our route taking us through Rouen.
It was a gloriously sunny day today and we walked up the grassy hill to admire the beautiful tower of the memorial. On either side there are white stone walls engraved with the names of the Australian soldiers who died on the Western Front and who aren’t buried in one of the many cemeteries which are scattered across the region. Neil looked up the details of the three of his relatives whose names are here and we located them on the wall.
Then we took the opportunity to climb to the top of the tower. It had been blocked off in 2011 as we were here on ANZAC day and the whole memorial was set up for the ceremony they hold here every year. The view was stunning! Looking out the front over the graves below, and on the other side down over the roof of the museum. It has been cleverly designed to sit into the hill so that it doesn’t detract from the beauty of the Memorial.
As we walked down the path to the entrance you drop down into an enclosed path that is designed to feel like entering a trench, the sounds of trench life play from speakers on the walls. Once inside we were surprised to find a small crowd of people , some of whom were lining up to have their photo taken with , of all people, Tony Abbott! He was standing there with his usual smirk lapping up the attention, with Sky News journalist PETA Credlin at his side. We , as you can probably imagine, were not remotely interested in shaking his hand! There are few politicians ( or ex politicians) that I dislike more.
we decided to eat lunch in the cafe before touring the museum . They had an excellent choice and we had some very tasty baguettes and good coffee. Neil had to return to the car to get some earbuds as the only way to hear the commentary at the museum is via their app using earphones. You can’t play it out loud as that “detracts from the peace and solemnity” of the museum. Unfortunately we’d time our visit with a school group. The children had been given iPads with a series of tasks to perform and we had to work our way through them. The children were beautifully behaved however their teacher was a pest! She talked non stop in a loud voice at them the entire time, hustling them to hurry up and do this and that. She obviously hadn’t got the memo about peace and solemnity!
We gave up on the main tour and entered the room that plays an immersive experience every 5 minutes. It has a surround screen, lighting and smoke effects and is designed to give you the experience of a soldier. It was very graphic and I was glad the children were too young to see it.
After the museum we set out for a 50 minute drive to Queant Road Cemetery in the tiny town of Buissy. This is where Neil’s Dads cousin , Thomas Brown is buried. We have been there before but Neil thought this would be his last chance to pay his respects to the young 19 year old who died in the second battle of Bullecourt.
The drive across country to Amiens passes several memorials and cemeteries, and passes through Pozieres. They still have a Diggers portrait on a tower at the entrance to the town.
I’d booked us into the Mercury close to the magnificent Amiens Cathedral and we were pleased to be given a free upgrade to a cathedral view room. Wedropped our bags and walked up to take a look inside the cathedral, it is stunning! It’s the largest in France and has towering vaulted ceilings and some very beautiful stained glass windows. It was built in the 1200s and sustained some damage in the French Revolution but fortunately survived the two world wars relatively unscathed.
Our dinner in the hotel was very tasty, I chose the daily special of Beef Carpatchio followed by a delicious creamy chicken dish. Tomorrow we head to the UK.