Tag: Bike and Barge

Off at 0900 but our first stop at the ruins of the Abbey l’Ourscamp was only 5 km away.

Beautiful remains of what was a massive abbey founded in 1129. It was damaged and rebuilt over the centuries before being badly damaged during WW1.

We had a brief stop at the church at Tracy le Val. It is hard to comprehend how little was left of some of these villages after the first world war.

Next on the list for today was a visit to the clearing in the forest where the Armistice was signed on 11/11/1918.

A few hills to get here and then a detour as the bridge was down but well worth the extra few kilometres. The negotiations and signing were done in a railway car in a clearing made in the dense forest for that purpose.

In 1927 a memorial was erected here which housed the original railway car. Hitler used this same car to sign the French Armistice in 1940 before dismantling the monument. The central flagstone  reads:

“Here on the eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German empire… vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave.”

Hitler had these flagstones removed, however they were not destroyed but kept in Berlin and they were retrieved and reinstalled in 1946.

Last stop was the Imperial Palace in Compiegne. Enormous building that was used by both Louis XVI and Napolean. Opulent and with many rooms with the original decor it was one of 3 palaces used by the King. No wonder there was a revolution.

Route of todays ride – Pont l’Eveque to Compiegne – 47kms

We had a leisurely start to the day as we sailed with Zwaantje until about 1100. It was nice to sit back with a cup of tea and watch the world go by.

Today we had some rolling hills and a headwind to test us. Most of the ride was through small rural villages with lunch at a small church (no bars or cafes today).

We arrived at Noyon at about 3pm after 30 kms and went to the Jean Calvin museum where we were given an audio tour about this museum, the church and the Noyon museum.

No one that we met spoke English – we got by with our limited French and some pointing but the locals are all very friendly. We stayed here until 5.45 as Zwaantje had been held up in locks all day. We rode the last few kms to the barge which was moored at Pont L’Eveque. We had a nice stroll after dinner through this pleasant little village.

Route of today’s ride – Nesle to Noyon – 30 kms

Noyon to Pont Eveque – 3kms

We wandered the streets of Peronne, visiting the market, the one church left after WW1 (6 others were destroyed) and other sights. The church was pock marked with bullet holes in the remnants of the old walls and amazingly a 1601 fresco survived the bombing.

Dinner was at a local restaurant with an Algerian chef as it was the crew’s day off today.

Today’s ride – 0 kms!

We started the day by travelling through the Ruyaulcourt tunnel, 4.5 km through a hill.

The tunnel is lit and very narrow. Martijn had about 30cm clearance either side.

Once through the tunnel the Zwaantje was moored, the bikes were offloaded and we disembarked. An easy day today of just over 20 km on the bikes. Warren volunteered to be sweep for the day.

We voted to go straight to Peronne via the path beside the canal so that we could have the afternoon there to go to the War Museum.

Tomorrow is our rest day and while Fred is encouraging us to go for a ride, we are ready for a day off the bike. The museum in town was great at portraying the battles of the Western Front and in particular the Somme which passes through town.

There was a special Australian display about the Battle of Mont St Quentin which was well done.

Route of today’s ride – Ruyaulcourt to Peronne – 22 kms

The day started with one of the Aussies in our group getting a cab to hospital after a fall down the stairs last night. We got a message later today to say his leg was broken and he was in a cast. So only 15 riders today plus Fred off to do a loop in the area.

3 others elected to spend the day on the barge. Zwaantje had 7 locks to negotiate so it was going to be slow going.

We had a loose itinerary with Fred taking us along the canal to start and then through quiet country tracks and roads.

Morning tea at a pub in Lecluse was followed by a short walk to a Menhir (monolith) erected over 3000 years ago.

Lunch was at the small town of Eterpigny – too small for a cafe or pub. After lunch we decided to go to the Australian “Digger” Memorial in Bullecourt.

It was a beautiful, perfectly maintained memorial to the almost 10,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the battles around Bullecourt.

It is situated on the Rue des Australiens amongst the now beautiful fields in this part of the country. It is hard to imagine how different it must have been in April and May 1917. Next we went to a cemetery for the British and Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in the final 2 months of the war.

Our final cemetery was one of the few in the country where both Allied and German troops are buried.

We cycled the final 15km to the barge which was moored past the 7th lock. After we were all on board, Martijn set sail for an hour to the entrance of the Ruyaulcourt tunnel that we are going through tomorrow morning.

Route of today’s ride – Arleux to Ruyaulcourt – 48 kms