Best Western Hotel Royal Picardie Amiens

... day. Paris had been foggy as it is nearly every morning so I was skeptical about the weather. This time of year is apparently when the weather starts to get miserable with colder temperatures and the humid, wet winter sets in. Mary told us that last year it rained the entire day in Amiens so things were looking pretty good for us.

Amiens is a small city north east of Paris and there isn't really that much to see in the city itself. We had only 2 things on ...

... alongside the French. It was amazing to see how touch the village had been by the Australian sacrifice.

Being a Sunday, I actually had to cab it to the village. Id rather not discuss the amount of euros that cost me. But I was so close, I had to get there, no matter what. My first attempt to hitch hike had no success, the trains would get me there too late and no buses were running out that way. So, cab it was. And luckily the guy was quite knowledgeable of the Anzacs ...

... Antwerp.

The Vimy memorial is enormous. We could see it from the highway as we were approaching it. It's 80 metres high. All the tour guides at Vimy Memorial are Canadian students living in Vimy/Arras for 3-4 months in exchange for being tour guides. I was talking to one of the guides there who is going to Ottawa U. You just have to be bilingual, a student and willing to ...

... as the bus felt like any regular coach bus in the US, you’d look out the window and realize with a jolt that you’re in a totally different country. It’s great to be sketching the historical buildings I’ve read about for years. I mean, I love the Illini Union and all, but it just doesn’t have the same kind of pull that an ancient cathedral does.

This trip also marked the end of our orientation period ...

... World War II, and you can really tell by walking around. They tried to find a mix between the old style that was lost, and new technology and working practices, and the result is still pretty French looking streets, but everything is a lot more modern and simple. They’ve tried to save heritage by moving some old facades to other buildings, and integrating old with new. We also saw some important buildings like August Perret’s tower and the modern train station.

... Bullecourt. The town is quite small, and conscious of the time, we did not stop to take photos of the bronzed slouch hat outside of the Bullecourt church. We did not see the Hotel Canberra that was in the town. We followed the signs along a small rural road (or track) that led to the Australian War Memorial. As we arrived, a big white tour coach pulled up behind us. As we walked towards the bronzed ...

... left town quickly.

We reached our arranged stop but logistics were still at camp sipping coffee and feasting on croisants. So we soldiered on without food or water. The sun also came out and provided a wonderful day.

We had completed 40 miles when logistics caught us up and we had a lovely lunch outside Etaples Commonwealth war cemetary. One of the largest from the 1st world war with over 11,000 soldiers ...

... etc. Then we went to lunch together at a university cafeteria nearby. The food was so-so, basic cafeteria fare, but there was wine on all the tables, so that was a fun treat. After lunch we were split up into our different languages/school types. The whole first half of the day was all in French, but this part was in English. They went over basic tips; we got to ask any questions, they gave suggestions for lessons ...

... swear you could easily drive through Belgium in an afternoon. It was only 60kms to Antwerp and here we are right near the Dutch border. Again this is a great city, it has a lot more vibe then Gent but it is a lot bigger. This one is set on a river, and has the same picturesque buildings and a grand place that looks like a smaller version of the one in Brussels. We sat in the sun (oh yes it was quiet warm today) and had a beer and did a bit of people watching. Dave got a waffle ...

... five slept at Maelle's. For those of you doing the math, a few other people actually lived in Amiens and had their own places J Next morning, we woke up, went over to Maelle's for a big breakfast, and went kayaking! So there was 10 of us, 2 per kayak and we went on this 10km kayak. Halfway through, we stopped for some lunch and hung out for a while. While going down the river, there were numerous collisions, splashings ...