MEN OF KENT ON TOUR- FRANCE SEPT 8TH TO SEPT 12TH 1997
Dear readers I thought I'd let you know about my annual trip to
the Battlefields of France with my friend David and I make every September.
This time I decided to write up what I did and what I thought.I will do this
as a daily write up. it should be said that every individual has his/her
own reasons for going. When you are there the feelings you get are a very
personal mater that only you know. Many of us who have travelled the area
have common feelings and ideas, it is stange how the same habits occur, one
being the walk to the Newfoundland park at night from Les
Galets. Myself I'm in love with the Somme. The countryside
is similar to Kent in geology, but has that rural French feel, something
about the place draws you back, something you just can't put your finger
on. Myself I don't like the Ypres salient, it's busy with lot's of high speed
traffic, the countryside isn't that appealling and moreover, whenever I go
there I just get this feeling of dread and suffering that normally hits me
just after Ploogsteert driving north.I know I have committed a sin saying
that, but it's difficult to be peaceful when cars are whizzing past and you
have the feeling of many unsettled souls around. In contrast I feel nothing
but peace on the Somme, the feeling that our men are at rest and there are
no tortured souls walking the fields is strange to relate, but if you've
been there ,you know what I mean. On my first trip I had my own preconceptions
that went out of the window in minutes, . If anyone has the chance to go,
do it, I have on my page below ideas and recommendations, read it and make
up your own mind. This year more than ever before we Walked the Somme, it
is by far the best way, use the Battleground Europe guides for ideas and
buy some Michellin Blue series maps and you can plan your own trips. Read
on and see what we got up to, you never know you might like it.