Day 05: Squeeze that pimple

Thursday June 18, 2009, 37 km (23 miles) - Total so far: 226 km (141 miles)

World > Europe > France > Nord-Pas-de-Calais > Beuvry - map
World > Europe > France > Nord-Pas-de-Calais > Arras - map

We both had a very good sleep last night, that I think was sorely needed, and left hte hotel at about 9am, with about 38kms to go today, though with 4 stops planned, it was going to be quite relaxed and with more than usual rest-stops.

It wasn't until we looked later on, but there's only two hills between Beuvry and Arras, and two of our destinations were at the top of each of them...!!! (sorry Drew...!)

The first was the French National Cemetary at Notre Dame de Lorette... on top of the biggest hill around, but Drew fought on valiantly and made it up there... the place is quite nice looking, well organised, and with some good views of the surrounding countryside... and the inside of the chapel was very nice... here's the pictures...

... We then headed down a long hill (that bit is soooooo easy...!), making our way to the canadian memorial (at the top of the other hill..!), following the GPS... which led us down a road that looked like it hadn't been paved for a few years (decades!)... which then led us onto a path that wasn't wide enough for a car, and was paved a little like the last one.... that then led onto a dirt track that is smaller than the ones I go mountain biking on back home...!!!... somehow all of this track had made it onto my Garmin GPS maps...!!!... here's a photo of the track...

... at the top of this track, we came across a WW1 memorial to the troops that captured the "pimple"... it's a memorial that most people wouldn't see... (as you will find out later on in todays report..)

... and after some lunch we made it to the Canadian Memorial, which really is the most beautiful memorial... we were chatting with the canadian girl on the gate for a while and she was telling us about it... she was also telling us that she's looked for the Pimple memorial but couldn't find it...!... I think she needs the 'Great Pathfinder'...!!

Up close the monument took our breath away.. and the view from there is stunning as well as harrowing, as we had another understanding of the size of the battlefield. I'll let the photos do as much justice as they can....

... Then as we headed down the hill to the Vimy Ridge (Grange) trenches, we pulled over to take a photo, at which point Drew found a novel way to stop on the bike... I don't think it's going to catch on....!