My day started badly by queuing in the cold for croissants and bread for fifteen minutes with wet hair, gad dammit! But the croissants were good and after the crowded campsite had mostly cleared, we set off west in to the town of Arras. We found our way to Place de la Vacquerie and Place de Héros where the market was in full swing. We grabbed a map from the huge Hotel de Ville and meandered round to the Grand Place where the market continued. According to the brochure, the market has apparently been going for 1,000 years, but thankfully, the cherries didn’t taste that old…..
The architecture was different again in Arras, it was so Flemish in style, we could have been in Belgium, but then, being so close to the border, it does make sense. We wandered in to the enormous Cathedral and read all the details about how 75% of it was destroyed in World War I, rebuilt, and then badly damaged again in World War II. The whole town was so badly damaged in the First World War that it was called the ‘Dead City’; as you walk around the streets it really makes you consider what the residents must have gone through back then.
We drove north towards Lens to visit the Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada. Much of the area is closed off with electric fencing because there are still believed to be unexploded shells and munitions. There are other areas that you can walk through, where the ground is pock-marked with shell holes and some huge mine craters from the terrible battle on the Front Line in World War I. Some trenches and tunnels have been preserved and as you stand down in them, it is awful to imagine what those soldiers went through in 1917. 3,598 Canadians lost their lives and more than 7,000 were injured.
The memorial itself is the most impressive and to my mind, it is the most beautiful that I have seen. It stands out, so tall, on the top of the ridge and the white limestone seems to glow, even on a cloudy day. The sculptures on and around it, really do seem to represent and invoke the spirit of this historic place.
From Vimy we headed north west past many more cemeteries and monuments for the British, the Polish and the French troops and finally pulled up at a strange and rather noisy campsite near Moule north of St Omer. We whipped up some gammon and pineapple with rice and salad, then settled down to watch a DVD before bedtime.
Today, Rodney’s day started badly, with a cold shower. So, as there was no hot water at the campsite and it was chilly outside, I opted to shower in Eileen. We finally arrived in Calais at 10:10am and spent until 11:20am trying to find just one supermarket that was open. Even the enormous Cité Europe on the edge of town was completely and utterly shut. When we finally found a small ‘Match’ supermarket it was closing in 10 minutes. We are astounded that in a city, that is a major port, with thousands upon thousands of tourists passing through every day, including Sundays, everything is closed except restaurants!!! We certainly never expected it.
We managed to get one of the last available spots at the aires by the docks in Calais, then strolled along the promenade and in towards town to find a restaurant for lunch. It turned into a warm day and after lunch, the beach began to fill up and by 5pm it was absolutely packed. Cars were queuing to get in, or maybe out, of the car parks. The jetty was covered in people fishing, eating fish and chips, strolling, or just gazing out to sea. Lots more campervans came in to the aires, unsuccessfully looking for a vacant spot, of which there were none after about 3pm. Sadly, Calais has to be one of the most unattractive towns in France that we have been to and yet so incredibly full of people who all seem to be waiting to leave. While watching the continual flow of cross channel ferries moving in and out of the port, it was strange for us to be sitting in Eileen not researching where to go tomorrow, or next week and after 89 days on the road we have finally come to a stop. Tomorrow morning, we will pack up early and drive around to the port to board our DFDS ferry to Dover. We will say au revoir and adieu to France and Switzerland with some fantastique, wunderbar and amazing memories that will last us a lifetime for sure.
