Mareuil-sur-Ay

Such a delightful location to spend time here at Mareuil-sur-Ay. Without much thought we decided to spend a leisurely Sunday here by the canal.

The canal is used for many activities. A passing parade this morning - boating, fishing, horse riders, cyclists, picnicking joggers and roller-bladers.

Spent some time chatting with a couple of Brits- turned out that they live in a village close to where our friend Fran lives. A very small world. 

We dodged showers throughout the day with much sunshine in between. The village is surrounded by vineyards and many champagne merchants in the village. But Sunday is really a family day here and very little commercial activity in the town at all - except for the boulangerie/patisserie  which opened for a couple hours this morning - to provide the French with their daily need for baquette/croissant!

Wine cellar - not open today!

Very leisurely and enjoyable day!

An old wine merchants house - note the carving of Bacchus above the door

The Marie - town hall.

Champagne Country

Not the most peaceful of nights. Around 11-ish great roars from bars sounded across the city and then  the constant noise of car-horns blasting to all hours into the night! France has just defeated Rumania in the biggest gig on the continent - Euro2016. 

Off to the market early this morning in Soissons to get a few items before we headed towards Epernay.

Saturday market tucked in around the cathedral - probably been held here for the past thousand years.

Crops and .... 

...... dead or alive!

Rained on and off throughout the drive, with quite heavy downfalls in places. Lovely countryside again - acreages of broad bean crops along with traditional cerial crops too. 

Saw the first of the vineyards as we approached Epernay. Small towns looking much more manicured complimenting the image of the vineyard cellar-doors  dotted all through the villages. A very smart area compared to the rustic charm of the area around the Aisne River valley. 

Champagne country.

 

Made our way to the canal  in the village of Mareuil-sur-Ay where we spent the afternoon and evening. 

Mareuil-sur-Ay - in the rain with canal and marina in the background.

Soissons

We are very fortunate with some of the overnight areas we stay in around France. This morning's view which greeted us made for a very pleasant start to the day and a delightful backdrop to breakfast.  

Pont l'Eveque - just a beautiful morning.  

We left Pont l'Eveque late morning for our drive to Soissons, through scenic Picardian farmland - more lush crops again - even some expansive potato crops across the countryside. 

Wheat crop and rogue poppies in the background.

We climbed a little passing many French and German war cemeteries - what a waste of young men! 

Four young Germans buried under each cross. Such a sad waste!

We were now entering the Aisne Valley - the scene of bitter battles during WWI. Shortly arriving at the pictureque  village of Vic-sur-Aisne. Skilfully parked the van  - where vans dare not go! Spent time wandering around the village, noting the marked difference of the architecture and building materials - more French and less Flemish in influence.

Village of Vic-sur-Aisne.

Originally Vic-sur-Aisne was a Roman village along the Roman road linking Soissons with Noyon. The "ford" here made for easier crossing of the Aisne at this point along the river. The chateau has existed since the eighth century - originally a wooden structure on stone foundations. 

Donjon Chateau in Vic-sur-Aisne.

Gate house and rose!

In the twelfth century the towers were built of stone. Religious wars later damaged the chateau and the rebuilds commenced in the early 1600s. It became the residence of cardinals and abbots until the revolution when it was sold off. During the WWI it came under control of the French army. Since WWII it has been sold off to a civil organisation and is now open to the public.

What are you doing there, Hilton!

Donjon Chateau and the Marie (Town Hall) on the right.

Some interesting little shops around the village. 

Soon after lunch we arrived in Soissons, another great location for parking. Aire de camping. Parked  on the bank of the Aisne River not far from the "centre ville". Joined a little later by a French couple and a German couple.

Hilton again with the Aisnes in the background. 

We set out on a walking trip around Soissons, a city ravaged by war 100 years ago - 80% of the town was destroyed in this time. 

The Battle of the Aisne took place at three different stages during WW1. It was right at the forefront of the German line from Belgium to the Swiss border.  The huge loss of lives just in this area alone was horrendous. 

Today, however, the city has redeveloped many of the main historical buildings of pre-WWI. The gothic cathedral was partly destroyed by artillery during WWI but has since been reconstructed - even minus the second tower on the main facade which was never completed in the 800 years the building has existed!

Cathédrale Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais de Soissons 

Gothic interior

A little bit of window shopping saw our trip around the city come to an end. Back down to the Aisne for a Friday night celebration!

Up and Running

Another night in Amiens, and up and about early this morning to meet our 8.15 am appointment at the garage. 

Met the time schedule with the van but then had several hours to wait for the work to be done. As intrepid as ever we went exploring further around Amiens. Particularly further through the St Leu area and the University precinct.  Along the walk we came across the statue of Lafleur, the famous marionette, who is the ardent defender of the Picardie dialect. Shows are staged within his theatre here in the St Leu district.

Famous marionette, Lafleur, in the St Leu area.

Regardless of where you go the every presence of the great cathedral is in your view. So, another visit - early in the morning - and there was only one or two others sharing the silence. 

The ever presence .... 

.... the 1288 Labyrinth in the centre of the nave ....

...  one of the choir scenes showing the story of  John the Baptist at the point of where his head was cut off!

Another hour had gone before we realised it, so back to the garage and the injured Hilton. It took a little longer than expected but we on the road by lunch.

We drive through some fine Picardian countryside before arriving at our canal stop at Pont l'Eveque. 

Another lush crop in Picardie. Note the wild poppies in background.

Amiens

Up and about early today to check the issue with the engine. We scoped the area last evening and found that the Fiat dealership and garage was only about 800m away. A bit lucky - sometimes you can chase your tail all over the place.

All the stories of French garage people are completely wrong. We couldn't have received a better reception at home - in fact, it may have been even better. The problem sorted, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to get the generator belt and spool fixed. That's okay because we were going to spend another day here as it was. 

One little side story: when we first entered the garage we asked the first person, "Parlez vous Anglais?"

His reply was, "Absolutemont, n'est pas!" We laughed - given the same question a year ago, the response was ( with a heavy French accent and a haughty reply) "Of course!"

 But we do love the French.

The morning rain had disappeared by the time we set out to explore Amiens - again (visited here two years ago). Our walk into the city took us past the medieval waterside district of St Leu - the little Venice of the North. This is a picturesque quarter with many restaurants and houses with colourful facades,  and criss-crossed by canals. 

Part of the St Leu district.

From here the views of the famous Amiens Cathedral dominate the skyline. A visit was a must - given that it is one of the great gothic cathedrals of France. This area, Picardie, is thought of as the cradle of Gothic architecture. 

The mighty gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Amiens.

The weeping angel -sad that benevolent bishop had died.

Part of the reliefs telling the story of the martyrdom of Saint-Firmi.

Impressive stone lace work of the cathedral craftsmen.

The Amiens Cathedral has the largest Gothic edifice ever built. Fortunately it has survived and been preserved through two bitter conflicts of the last century, and the vagaries of politics over the past 1000 years. 

As a matter of fact, the well known Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral could fit into it twice over. It is quite breath-taking to spend reflection time within the walls.

The magnificence of the main facade.

Spire, buttresses, gargoyles and walkways.

Gargoyles up close!

Back to reality with a barbecue at the back of the van!

Pozieres

Another sunny and warm morning. Had breakfast and then took a walk along the river. Plenty of people were taking the opportunity of the fine weather to run, cycle or walk the path.

Walk along the Lys River this morning - some lovely gardening being done by some of the locals.

Spent some time taking care of the services provided at this aire de camping. French do this well, actually providing the necessities for motorhomers and this providing visitors to their village. There were seven vans here last night- all would have spent money in the village - multiply the 7 by 150 ( number of days over the spring/summer) then you start to get significant numbers here that may not have been here otherwise. And it is a delightful setting.

We called in to Bethume to buy some more supplies before driving in to Pozieres. 

Pozieres is the name of the village we all grew up hearing about. It was said by the WWI war historian, Charles Bean, that "the Pozieres ridge is more deadly sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth."  Interestingly, because the Aussie soldiers could see the "the lack of thought" given to this battle by the High Command, they went against the appeal by their own commander,General  Birdwood, and voted against the conscription referendum being held back in Australia.

The town boundary sign!

An interesting visit, with contrasting picture we see today as to how it would look in 1916. 

Barley crop of today compared to  ...  

... The crop of 1916!

From the Pozieres hill position you can see many of the other battle sites across the Somme valley.

The Australian Division Memorial with Hilton sticky his nose in.

We left Pozieres just as an almighty thunderstorm hit the area. The wipers struggled to keep the water off the windscreen. Some of the lower points in the road struggled to cope with the heavy downpour - flooding parts of the busy highway to Amiens. 

Rain ... 

... flooding highway.

The  rain had cleared by the time we reached  Amiens where we parked up to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Very pleasant stopping point.

Early evening we took a walk around the town, along the Somme River and to the eateries along the promenade. Lots of people enjoying the Summer evening.