Our day started when the alarm went off a midnight !! Our Taxi was booked for 1.00am. We were outside waiting at 12.55am, stressing hoping the Taxi would turn up !!!. 1.01am it arrived :) We were originally instructed to meet the tour on the steps of the Opera Garnier at 2.15am, however we received an email yesterday bringing the time forward to 1.30am. As we left the Taxi, people were already gathering on the steps - all Aussies and all very friendly. Our tour hostess Nicola, arrived shortly after, a young lady from the UK, fluent in French. Right from this point we knew it was going to be a great tour. We we departed the Opera, one tour participant hadn't arrived, but within 5 mins of leaving, the coach stopped and waited for her - her taxi had failed to show !!
We drove for about 45 mins before a loo/coffee break which left another hour or so to Villers Bretonneux. The was some confusion as we arrived, with regard to directions to the drop off point, but eventually we arrived in time to go through the airport like security and get to our seat with about 15 mins to spare.
Leading up to the service a video presentation was played on the wall of the monument, of veterans speaking of their experiences of the war.
The service was extremely moving, at one point bring me to tears, hearing an exert from a soldiers diary of how he felt about the days and nights on the Battlefields of the Somme. The service was attended by General Sir Peter Cosgrove the current Governor General of Australia.
As the dawn arrived the last post was played from the tower of the monument, another very moving point
The service concluded with the laying of wreaths in honour of those who fought and lost their lives.
At the conclusion of the service, complimentary coffee and croissants were available. The coffee wasn't that great, but at least it thawed out our fingers :) The wait for the coach was long, but with about 70 coaches, I guess it was to be expected.
At the conclusion of the service, complimentary coffee and croissants were available. The coffee wasn't that great, but at least it thawed out our fingers :) The wait for the coach was long, but with about 70 coaches, I guess it was to be expected.
Our day continued with a tour of the Somme Battlefields, our tour guides Nicola and Regis were amazing. Their knowledge of the details of the area and information regarding the World Wars was incredible. We saw the Valley of the Somme, the Lochnagar Crater, which was mine dug by the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers, under a German field fortification, on the front line, south of the village of La Boisselle, in the Somme. The crater is still at least 50 mts deep (guessing).
We stopped and visited a number of Australian War Graves that are scattered though out the country side, in the middle of paddocks, and as we came into one of the small villages there was a German Cemetry, where 6,000 men are buried, 4 to a cross, with a mass grave at the back with 2000 men.
The exception was that Jewish soldiers were not buried under a cross, they were buried with a stone and one to a grave.
The 2 photos above are of a German Bunker. These bunkers would hold up to 60 men, where they would wait out of sight for advancing troops.
We finished the tour with lunch in Peronne, after which most people on the bus slept for the drive back to Paris.
We then had dinner at an Italian Restaurant, 2 doors up from the apartment.
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