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Arras, Normandy and points West

November 6, 2018ricklongboard2 Comments

We’ve had a great couple of days since arriving in Arras, including some gentle walks through town. Unbeknownst to us, Halloween is actually a thing in France and the town was on holiday, complete with themed pubs and restaurants, and hordes of kids holding shops to ransom. Arras itself may be worth a visit, including the two market squares, rebuilt in theme in the 19^th C as well as the church, one holding the inevitable Rubens! Still can’t get over the artworks simply hanging in public spaces …

Having really appreciated the opportunity to walk the fields and pass through the museums we have taken the opportunity to travel down to the Normandy beaches. Yesterday we spent the day at Utah Beach, having spent overnight in the town of Sainte-Mare Eglise, the first town liberated in France. You may well remember this from the series Band of Brothers. The town remains heavily associated with D-Day, and houses the Airborne Museum.

What a way to start your war: A paratrooper commemorated for landing on the church spire, Saint-Mer-Eglise

Paratrooper memorial – stained glass window

We had two nights in the town before travelling down the road to Utah Beach and the museum there. The museum is very well resourced and the layout is very engaging. One can’t help but empathise with combatants, on both sides, their experiences associated with those times.

105mm shell damage – from an unexploded shell!!

We are currently going to overnight in the supermarket carpark not far from Mont St Michel, Thank You Carrefour! We spent the day cycling and walking to the Mont: A truly wow kind of experience. Begun in the 8^th C with big extensions in the 11^th C to become a Benedictine Monastery. Obviously successful, as it was here that the bastard William (no, truly, that’s how he was known) was blessed before setting off to England, Hastings, and un upgrade to Conqueror. The walk along the causeway gave spectacular views on the Mont. I couldn’t get over the fact that I could not see the sea – even from a very elevated position. Particularly given that it was Spring Tide, the mud flats are as impressive as mud flats could possibly be. With a population of 50 + a mayor, the inhabited area is on steeply pitched walkways or stairs – just lovely. Not so lovely were the prices: €26 for regional vegetable soup!!!

Tomorrow off to St Malo – we really enjoyed the town when last here in 2015, at the start of a long cycle to Nice, some 1700km down the road, in a summer that was so hot we had tar melted on the bike tires. None of that now, although with temperatures in the early teens it’s been very pleasant. We reflected, cycling past 12 or 14 enormous car parks, what this place must look like in summer – Ouch!

October 2018 Budget

November 3, 2018November 3, 2018ricklongboardLeave a comment

No big ‘Woohee’ this month as we overspent our budget in a number of critical areas, sometimes with good reason. We continue to overspend on our diesel budget. In part this is due to long distances covered as we head south. Another reason is that diesel costs continue to rise, and France seems to come in at around €1.50 per litre. This month we also filled up on the 3^rd and on the 30^th, so timing wasn’t great. At over €120 a tank you can see the impact this has. November is not going to be any better as we rack up close to 2000km.

2018-11-02 09.10.49 am

We also had some incidental costs with the van. We had our annual water tight testing done, compulsory under the warranty, which cost €150, but also included the addition of a taped ‘lip’ over the awning attachment on the side of the van. This area has a build-up of unsightly grime & moss, a consequence of water collection there. With some luck this will also reduce unsightly streaking down that side of the van. We also bought a more efficient 12V inverter. This is used to charge our computers and other chargeable items, rather than only charging in the cab through the cigarette lighter socket while driving. Other ongoing expenses include the annual water purification addition (€67), toilet cleaner and a new rubbish bin.

Eating out was well over budget, but we took the opportunity to eat out with friends, enjoy the coffee culture and indulge in a few beers. It can’t only be about the budget! Our joint supermarket / eating out budget has proven pretty accurate for Europe, and I’d hope to see savings when we get to Spain. Laundry has been a bit of a killer. We do try to reuse clothes, particularly trousers and warmer tops, but with the cooler weather and rain we have used laundromats more than usual. I think this area will be constantly over budget – and I’d rather be clean!

On the upside, we’ve had a great month avoiding campsites. Three nights in campsites is way better than expected, and I’d hope this can continue in the future. We have not felt insecure in any of the informal overnight stops, although I do always feel better when there are other campers close by.

So that’s the budget: Over the 4 months we are about €1000 in the black, even after very long distances and some of Europe’s most expensive countries. This might bode well for the future.

Arras & Vimy Ridge

November 2, 2018ricklongboard2 Comments

We are currently next to a park on the outskirts of Arras, having had a good overnight here, and looking for a second. The town itself is quite pretty and worth a visit in its own right, but the reason we are here is to visit some of the 20^th C battlefields and memorials.

We woke up outside Calais, having committed to a more rapid flight south as the rain teemed down, the wing sped up, and we were doing circles in our ‘what’s next’ discussions.

Beachside, north Calais. Really time to head South!

True to form, we had made a plan and then immediately gone and broken it. We were in France, it is November, Armistice Day Centenary commemorations were going to be held, so why not make the most of this, literally, once in a lifetime opportunity? Resorting to google we found Arras, Vimy Ridge and the Canadian Memorial to be fairly close by – well, 160km away in any case.

What a good decision. The memorial centre is tastefully done, focusing on people and the consequences of war rather than on the heroics. Particularly poignant is the photograph of the last Allied soldier, a Canadian, killed in the war, at 10:58am on 11 November 1918. Two minutes …

Compare this cultivated area to the landscape that has been preserved from 1918.

The landscape bears the scars of the conflict, twisted and gouged, thrown up in humps and hollowed out in overlapping shell holes. Although much of the area is now peacefully wooded in autumn colours, a 100 hundred years after the last shells, the walk is deeply affective. The sheep? The area remains mostly undisturbed, and sheep are used to graze the grass short, due to unexploded ordinance still being a hazard.

Trenches, 25m apart

Niki, Vimy Ridge

In this particular area the trenches were preserved in the 1920’s, and show how the Canadian and Bavarian lines were, in some cases, only 25 meters apart.

Canadian Memorial, looking from the Cemetery.

The monument is, well, monumental, in the best senses of the term. It is inspiring, thought provoking, evocative, deeply symbolic. The statue of a young Canada grieving is particularly apt, given the losses in this area.

The cemetery, of course, tells its own story. Out of interest Niki and I counted tombstones which had names, as opposed to the unknown soldiers: 12 named versus 55 unnamed, in one section of a row. Bears testimony to the role played by artillery, the fact that soldiers literally disappeared in the blasts. The Canadian memorial lists the names of almost 12,000 servicemen whose bodies were never recovered or identified. A sobering experience, and one I’m very pleased to have shared with Niki. Having lost friends myself in conflict does add poignancy and reflection to a day like this.

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Ghent, Belgium

October 30, 2018ricklongboard4 Comments

So having made a decision to travel a little quicker, here we are in Belgium! Granted, it’s just around the corner, but even traveling on Sunday on large freeways saw traffic backed up or even brought to a halt. I’ve no idea if Monday would have been any better, but I’m happy we’ve made the call and moved on. We arrived at the public parking area at the Yacht Basin – a very complimentary term for a spot next to the canoe club, and at the head of the straight used for rowing – and to our surprise, the roads were packed. How were we to know the Ghent Marathon was on? In any case, found a nice spot overlooking the grass and water and settled in for the night.

Woke to a freezing cold morning! By the time we had walked into town, about 30 minutes from here, my eyes had teared up, so any out-of-focus photographs are to be blamed on that (exclude the instamatic nature of the camera!) The walk took us through perhaps less salubrious parts of town, and on rubbish collection day. Feeling less than enthused we reached the Old Town and – Goodness, there is so much of beauty to see!

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Stopping at Info (very helpful!!), housed in the old fish market, provided us with a map with a tour of the old town, highlights and background information on the key sights. True to form, we dawdled, and the day passed in a haze of exquisite buildings, town squares, and exhibits that were simply breathtaking. Having had little intention of stopping here – well, so happy to have done so.

A couple of highlights:

Best for us was the St Bavo’s Cathedral: Built on the site of a previous church dating from the 10th C and a Romanesque church dating to the 12th C, the Cathedral has incorporated those elements in its present form. Stepping down below the cathedral floor into the Romanesque church, still with frescoes in quite vivid colours, was just astonishing – I literally stood with my mouth hanging open.

Frescoes below St Bavo’s Cathedral

Romanesque church, 12thC

The church houses a range of rich art treasures, including paintings by Rubens and a host of Flemish masters. The guide book notes one particular treasure, the Ghent Altarpiece, as follows: ‘The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is arguably the most influential painting in history, and is also the most frequently stolen artwork of all-time.’ The most recent theft, in WWII by art connoisseurs Hitler and Goering, and the successful repatriation by the Monuments Men is detailed in the cathedral.

Pulpit, Triumph of Truth over Error, 1696

Too much to note in a blog – this is a place to visit yourself, and again, pictures just fail to capture the sense of immensity, beauty, historicity, oh goodness a range of really good feelings!

A sense of what the town looked like can be gained from the old port part of town. Ghent has frequently lost access to the sea due to silting of the rivers, but this area played a critical role is Ghent’s rise to power as a merchant city, second in size only to Paris, focused on the wool industry. The stately buildings around the Graslei & Korenlei streets on the Leie canal were reminders of this.

Heart of old Ghent’s power base – the wool docks

And then some individual gems: This building has the oldest stepped gables in the world. Given its size, and its very imposing neighbours, how did it survive)

Vrijdagmarkt must hum in summer – what a great place for a Belgian beer – and a quick look at the 12500kg Mad Meg cannon.

Vrijdagmarkt

Mad Meg the cannon

I could go on, but you get the idea!

With rain teeming down, temperatures dropping close to freezing, we are going to drive to Bruges and decide on whether to stay overnight or move on – probably the latter. After looking at our road atlas, deciding that endless autumn is not where we’re at, we are going to increase our pace and try to get to Morocco in December. First up then, is to aim for St Malo, taking in some of WWII sites along the way. Given that Morocco is almost 3000km away I’m sure we’ll have things to distract us.

What is brought home over and over again is that a year seems like a bit of a rush ….

Volendam, Netherlands

October 29, 2018October 29, 2018ricklongboardLeave a comment

IMG_5162.1 — Dutch Masters & their ships

Well, we were always going to have days like these…

We are sitting in the Simonhoeve Cheese & Clog restaurant at lunchtime. Niki has an interview with an international school, and talk about bad timing! She was up last night with nausea and cramps and headache, and has woken this morning even worse. Yesterday, doing some research in preparation, she had a number of websites open in the background over a 4 hour period. Thinking we were fine with data – (we still had 4 gigs left the day before), Niki did a quick check and … found we had used 9.6 gigs out of 10 gigs.. Quick run to the restaurant and the very helpful folks have given us use of WiFi – let’s see how that holds up. So poor Niks – feeling grim, interview pressure, noisy restaurant …

We are just outside the lovely town of Volendam. Took a walk in yesterday past a beautiful old windmill (origin 1680) and Niki had lunch overlooking the harbour, with very stylistic yachts coming past – hmmm, very Old Dutch Masters kind of scene.

Coincidentally, we are just around the corner from the town of Hoorn, which may have a family connection. My friend Lloyd, who knows everything about everything, and is never wrong (seriously), has gotten into genealogy. He points out that the South African Swart family originated from this area, with Johannes Swart arriving in the Cape in 1685, working as a ‘sieketrooster’, a doctor of sorts, before buying a farm in Stellenbosch. He was followed in 1692 by his wife and 3 children, and generations later, here we are. This ties in very well with an oral record I heard from my oupa as a young child. How things come around.

Dutch billiard table

With supporting act

The Netherlands has a huge camper community, witnessed by the 1000’s of vans and caravans on the road during the holidays. Consequently, we have been very surprised at the lack of campervan facilities through the country, possibly as a result of the emphasis on campgrounds. Our current overnight stop is a rather rare occurrence – free parking at a fromagerie. Dumping stations have been seldom to absent – yesterday we paid a fee to use a campsite dump facility, but that looks also to be an exception. With the weather closing in again this might just be the incentive needed to continue heading south (well, west really) and into France.

On the road today we met an Australian couple from Perth, on their last day in Europe before returning to the UK (not Europe) to sell their van and return home after 3 ½ years on the road. Lined up at a dumping station is not the best opportunity for sharing detailed experiences (of traveling, not dumping), and they just raved about the time they have had. Special glowing memories of Morocco … hmmm!