Baralle is a small village in Northern France, about halfway between Arras and Cambrai.
We are staying at Le Clos St Georges, a beautiful guest house, originally built around 1836, and renovated over 6 years by the current owners into a stunning location. It is quite close to Bullecourt, the reason for our visit to this area and upon which I will elaborate later.
It is a shame we have only 1 night here as it a beautiful place in a beautiful location – but that’s the way we travel ! And with all the royal treatment at our guest house – dinner didn’t finish till nearly 10pm – and an early start for the next day, blogging had to wait !
Our itinerary for today and tomorrow is a “big indulgence” for me and to Adrienne I am extremely grateful for this ! Our “2017 Tour” had pretty much been planned around these 2 days, and particularly tomorrow, for many years. It is quite a long story – probably a bit bizarre in some ways to anyone else – but I wanted to be here in Bullecourt tomorrow to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the death of my Dad’s cousin, who was killed here in WWI. For those with any sleeping disorders 😉 I will be posting a LONG story about it tomorrow.
First up today however, we had an unexpected walking tour of Bruges again this morning. I managed to leave my Gopro cable at home so after it ran out of battery half way through yesterday, I hadn’t been able to recharge it. And as yesterday was a public holiday in Belgium none of the shops were open. So this morning we googled a couple of possibilities and after a lovely leisurely breakfast, setoff on a 15 minute walk to what we thought would be the best option. Having found the shop, they didn’t have what we were after. Asking for possible alternatives, he directed us back to the markt square – 2 minutes from our hotel – to a HUGE electronics store – which, thankfully, did have the cable I was after.
Then it was back to the hotel and we packed up our bits and hit the road for the day.
To
start we were off in search of “The Best Beer in the World” ! I know its not the best pastime for first thing in the morning however it was more to find where its made rather than to actually sample it. Westvleteren is a brewery founded in 1838 at the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Vleteren, Belgium, not far from the hop-producing town of Poperinge. The brewery’s three beers have acquired an international reputation for taste and quality, Westvleteren 12 being considered by some to be “the best beer in the world” ! As it wasn’t much of a detour (even Adrienne would agree this time) we decided to try our luck and perhaps grab some samples for the expert panel on “The Cruise”. So we headed south west from Bruges on a loop toward Vleteren. Having found the monastry, there was unfortunately no activity to be found (the monks had had a big night perhaps ?) and our instinct from the dutch sign was that it would not be open until 1pm. A few other people, with what seemed to be the same intentions as us, also came and went. So we FOUND the best beer in the world but alas, no samples to be had. Oh well, they wont be getting our votes.
Now you “keen-eyed” followers will note that Dunkirk was only a short distance away on the map above but the blue line doesn’t stop there. I can assure you that it was top of my “visit list” however we recently found that the “Musee Dunkirk 1940” is currently closed until July for a major refurbishment. As this was “the” Dunkirk location to visit, we decided to keep this part of the tour to a “WWI themed” adventure – well for now anyway 😉
But in keeping with the WWI theme, we set off for a visit to Ypres and the famed Menin Gate. Our first stop was the Cloth Hall. This had all but been destroyed in WWI and together with the church nearby, was eventually restored. It now houses the “In Flanders Fields” museum which shows exhibits from the time of the war and numerous artifacts. Part of the museum tour includes an optional visit to the bell tower so we chipped in the extra couple of Euro to take in the 230 odd steps to the top. About half way up is a level where the bells are located. We jokingly commented about not wanting to be there if the bells went off – little did we know as we continued up that 10 minutes or so later they did ! The view from the top, from various angles, took in the church, the Menin Gate and the Flanders countryside in all directions.
The Cloth Hall in Ypres
Topping up the parking meter, we then walked the few blocks to the Menin Gate memorial. Coincidently, we also saw the iconic Menin Gate lions, which thousands of Australian and other allied forces marched past on their way to the Belgian battlefields of the Western Front. These stone sculptures bearing the Ypres coat-of-arms, stood at the entrance to the Cloth Hall (the town’s civic and commercial centre) from 1822, before being moved to either side of the street leading to the Menin Gate in the mid-nineteenth century. They remained there during WWI even as Ypres was reduced to ruins by German artillery fire. The lions, broken and scarred, were later recovered from the war rubble, and in 1936 the Burgomaster of Ypres presented them to the Australian government as a token of friendship and an acknowledgement of Australia’s sacrifice in the region during the war.
The Lions back guarding the Menin Gate
And if you think they look familiar, since 1991 they have been displayed inside the front entrance of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. They have returned to their original home coinciding with the centenary anniversaries of one of the most notorious and costly campaigns of the war, the Third Battle of Ypres. The names of 6,191 Australians are among the 54,000 British and Dominion soldiers listed on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, commemorating those who died in the fighting in Flanders and have no known grave. Having arrived in time for Anzac Day they will now stand sentry once again and will return to the Australian War Memorial after Remembrance Day 2017.
Next, thanks to the marvel that is Google Maps, we visited an area just to the north-east of Ypres, in an area which used to be known as Hanebeek Wood. In WWI, fighting for the AIF 20th Battalion, Adrienne’s Great Uncle, Francis Gregory Clancy (“Uncle Greg”), was awarded the Military Medal as the Australian 2nd Division advanced successfully in the “Battle of the Menin Road”, part of the Third Battle of Ypres in September 1917. As a company stretcher bearer, he “showed wonderful devotion to duty … as, under severe enemy shell fire, he moved about in the enemy fire attending to the wounded… carrying constantly throughout the whole day and showed absolute disregard for personal safety”.
The Fromelles (Pheasant Wood_ cemetery – another immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Then, on to Bullecourt. It was here in April and May 1917 that the town was almost entirely flattened as the German army defended along the “Hindenburg Line” and the Allies sought a breakthrough from the ongoing stalemate of the fighting in the war – with battles consuming enormous quantities of resources while achieving virtually no strategic gains.
For those of you already overloaded with the history lesson 😉 I’ll leave the rest of the detail till tomorrow. Today we visited the Bullecourt 1917 Museum. This museum was born from the collection of the local mayor and his wife, Jean and Denise Letaille, a farming couple who collected objects after the war found during their farming activities. Over the years, their collection grew and grew. Eventually in 2011, as part of a desire to upgrade sites important to the Australian fighting during the war, the Australian Government and local French councils funded significant improvement to the collection. The renovated museum opened on 25 April 2012 for Anzac Day. We signed the guest book and quite a number of the entries above us were from people basically following the steps of their families like us and commemorating the passing of 100 years.
So, Le Clos St Georges is certainly a change of pace to our day ! After a long day, we arrived at Clos St Georges just before 6pm where we were greeted by our lovely hostess, Genevieve. After seeing us to our room, she served us tea and coffee in the conservatory after which we wandered the lovely garden to take some pictures. They have been here since 2002 when they took over the property from her husband, Francois-Xavier’s parents. The place has quite some history ! A wealthy merchant built it in the 1830’s together with a factory processing sugar beets. Basically the whole nearby “back yard” has underground ovens which were used in the process. In WWI, the home was used as a military hospital by the German forces. It was located in a quieter area of the front so was ideal for treating the numerous wounded soldiers. It did receive some damage however. After the war, the sugar beet ovens were converted and used to make the bricks needed for rebuilding the local properties. In WWII, it was occupied by the Germans again. The outside of the building shows a few “scars” from weapon fire, including a section of bullet holes made by attacking fighter planes “straffing” the premises with machine gunfire!
The guest house now has 3 guest rooms but we were the only ones staying. Genevieve was very emotional as we told her the story of our visit. We already knew how grateful the French people have been for what sacrifice the Australian forces made for them however we also got the feeling from her that after the suffering they have experienced in those 2 wars, she cannot understand how parts of the world can continue to contemplate further global aggression.
After our long chat, accompanied by and aperitif (or 2) before dinner, we were treated to a delicious 3 course dinner and wine, before making our way upstairs and collapsing into bed.
An early start tomorrow !
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – In World War I, in terms of total deaths per 1000 men mobilised, the AIF figure was 145 – the highest of all the British Commonwealth armies.