Day Four

This morning we left Paris behind and started our trek to the north. Our historian Mike Peters, outlined what to expect over the next few days as we explore and pay our respects to the brave men who fought on the Western Front.
First we visited the town of Riems, which is the home of G.H Mumm champagne🍾We did a tour of the premises and the underground caves where they make and store the champagne. Then we got to sample the product! Boy it went down real well. Pity it is so expensive! 💶💶💶💶💶💶💶💶💶💶
We have made our way to the town of Ypres (pronounced 'eeps' or as the Aussie soldiers called it 'Wipers')in Belgium. It is a beautiful old tiny village with cobblestone laneways for roads and a large open plaza in the centre.
We visited our first war cemetery 'Tincourt New British Cemetery', here we learnt about what each headstone can tell us and about the Commonwealth War Commission. Each country pays to be part of this organisation and they pay for the upkeep of every headstone, garden and lawn area in each cemetery across all places where Aussies have fought.
Many members of our tour party have relatives that they are looking to locate. The historians and tour guide have worked tirelessly to locate them all. So as we travel to each war cemetery these family members conduct a graveside memorial. This is where they tell us the war story of their loved one. Today we had our first graveside memorial and it was very emotional for all as I suspect all the rest to be.
Next we travelled to Mon St Quentin, where there were two major offences in 1918. Here three Aussies named McTier, Towers and Lowanson showed extreme bravery to outwit and take back high ground from the Germans on The Somme. All three of these men were awarded the Victoria Cross.
Things I Learnt today.....
1. There are such things as a 5⭐️ coach! 🚌
2. The Monuments and cemeteries are located in all different areas, between houses, in townships or out in the middle of no where. There is no rhyme or reason, I guess life has just grown up around them.
3. The people on this tour have amazing stories about the love ones they are looking for.
4. Most roadside public toilets are unisex 🚽well they were today as everytime we stopped the male toilets 🚹were being cleaned, it is weird seeing men in the female 🚺 loos! Conspiracy maybe? 😝
5. Glad I brought dark sunglasses 🕶and plenty of tissues I Think I'm going to need them! 😢Read more