Day 2. September 27, 2016

We saw a lot of historic places today and I'll try to give a brief description for each - but please google anything of interest for a more complete and proper description.

Overslept this morning.  Nuts!  On the bright side - we are now adjusted to the time difference.  We started the day by hitting the grocery store.  I made the same mistake as in Stockholm several years ago - sparkling water.  Ugh!  In my defence, it said nothing about carbonation on the bottle.

We then dropped into the Town of Albert for brunch and found an excellent cafe in front of the historic Albert Basilica.  I have wanted to visit this church for many years, and it did not disappoint.  It is easily the tallest building in Albert, and you can see it for many miles before spotting the actual town.  For obvious tactical reasons during WWI, the British used it during the battle of the Somme, and the Germans wanted to level it.  Atop this Basilica, was a huge golden statue of the Virgin Mary holding up the infant Jesus.  When the Canadian troops arrived in Albert in 1916, the Basilica was virtually destroyed, except for the steeple and the Virgin Mary hanging precariously by her feet, still holding Jesus in her hands.  Virtually all of the Canadians and Newfoundlanders who fought in WWI would have marched near or under her as the town of Albert was a central marshalling area for the British Army.  The Basilica and hanging statue were well known on both sides of the war, with a superstition that if/when the statue toppled - that the war would soon end.  Eventually, in 1918, the steeple and statue were destroyed by shelling.  After the war, the Basilica was rebuilt and it is amazing.  We spent a couple hours admiring both the inside and outside of this amazing piece of history.  I have attached three old internet photos from 1916, and a couple from today.

After leaving the Town of Albert, we went to the Canadian Memorial at Courcelette.  It was easily the simplest of all the Memorials we visited today, but also the most peaceful.  It is a large granite block that pays tribute to the Canadians that fought at the Battle of the Somme, in a large park-like setting with 28 Maple Trees with some nice stone benches.  After paying our respects, we took a couple of photos and sat for a while. We later returned at sunset to take it all in again.  The weirdest part - but it is true - Sara said she really liked it because it smelled like home.  I initially thought she was nuts but after a few deep inhales, had to agree.  I know it is illogical and makes no sense, but with eyes closed - the air smelled/felt like home.  We did not have this sense anywhere else today.  From this Memorial, you can look down on what was the Flers-Courcelette battlefield, but is now largely agricultural fields.  I found it difficult to envision the battlefield and mud and blood associated with this place.  The Canadians entered the Battle of the Somme on September 3, 1916 and finally left 3 months later after suffering over 24,000 casualties.  Nearby was a Memorial to mark the introduction of the armoured tank to the battlefield and honour those who were killed in the British Tank Corps.

This part of France is absolutely dotted with Memorials and WWI cemeteries.  I believe it is impossible to comprehend and appreciate the sacrifice, horror and loss that occurred here.  All of these battlefields that comprise the larger "Somme Battlefield" are situated along a 15 mile front.  This is less than the distance from Red Deer to Lacombe.  Over this distance, and 4 ½ months of fighting - there were in excess of 1 million casualties.  They talk of the ground here being soaked in blood (Sara didn't like that part).  Though we had no immediate personal connection, we stopped at and visited Memorials to the Australians (Pozierers), British, and Newfoundlanders.  

The Memorial to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was incredible.  I had seen pictures of the Caribou statue before, but the interpretative center, park, trenches and overall aura was both sad and inspiring.  On July 1st, 1916 - the first day of the Battle of the Somme - 780 Newfoundlanders went forward and after suffering a 90% casualty rate - fewer than 70 answered roll call the next morning.  Following WWI, to honour this sacrifice, this was the only British Regiment awarded the title "Royal" to its name.

Very close to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Memorial is the enormous British Memorial at Thiepval.  It honours the Missing of the Somme from Britain and South Africa.  This Memorial was visited by Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry this past July 1st.  It lists the almost 73,000 names of the missing in its granite walls.  This was a very sad place.

It was getting to be a long day, but I had to see the Lochnagar Crater since we were in the immediate vicinity.  It is important to remember that WWI had been grinding on for almost two years before the Battle of the Somme.  Over that time, both armies had become entrenched in this area along opposing lines.  The British Army tunnelled under the German front line and placed 60,000lbs of explosives with the plan to detonate the charge prior to initiating the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.  At 7:28am that morning, the explosion occurred as planned.  It is said that a cloud of earth flew 4000 feet into the air and the explosion was heard as far away as London.  Sara's picture below is great, but doesn't really do justice to the size of this crater, 100 years later.  It is absolutely enormous, and was also a very sad place.

Finally, as the day ended, we returned to the Canadian Memorial as mentioned above and sat to enjoy the quiet with a coffee.  And to smell the "Canada" in the air.

A few things we learned today.

1.  Our rented European sports car can really go!  We have named it Andre.  Maybe a picture tomorrow.

2.  That awkward feeling when you do something that is engrained in your head.  Like looking the wrong way before crossing the street in London.  Today at the grocery store, I eventually caught myself looking at the French side of the container.  Flipping it around to find more French.  Then flipping it around again.  The clerk was looking at me like I'd lost my mind.  Only in Canada.

3.  Sara was so smooth today.  As we walked the streets of Albert, there was a group of French high school boys sitting on a stoop that we had to walk past.  None of them noticed me, and I kept walking.  My daughter however tripped on a soda can that was lying on the sidewalk.  Clearly she isn't quite ready for the catwalk.  She did get their attention though.

4.  The cure for carbonated water is occurring as I blog.  We have four 1 litre bottles of Perrier water.  Sara shook them all, and left the caps off overnight.  We'll see tomorrow.  Old Dad is a little skeptical.

5.  Sara bought a new phone this summer.  We may have to take it back.  Her GPS Google Maps lady is on crack.  Holy crap.  Maybe we can purchase an app where she gets a clue.  And I'm starting to think that besides being directionally challenged, she is also passive aggressive.  My phone's GPS lady on the other hand works just fine and gets us where we need to go.  I love her.