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Onto the Western Front

Grandfather Linton, standing (right).

Standing on the left is "his little mate" Josiah Doyle, who was killed.

From official war records ....

"2134, Pte. Linton W.F. accompanied by 2091.  Pte. Doyle, J. were on a raft in the lagoon below Marlborough Huts, AVELUY. In direct contravention of Routine Orders the men obtained bombs and were using them to kill fish when the accident occurred which killed Pte. DOYLE and wounded Pte. LINTON."

Occurred on 20/7/1917. They were apparently good friends, and DOYLE was referred to as "my little mate"

Reverse of above photo :

Grandfather Linton's injuries were described in the report as "Multi. Bd. wds. frac. Femur - & Penet. Brain". He was returned to England for hospitalisation on 24/8/1917, discharged and returned to Australia on 31/1/1918.

Josiah DOYLE originally was from the UK (Worsley, Manchester), but lived at Fifth St, Weston at the time of his enlistment (Grandfather Linton lived at Millers Forest at the time of his enlistment). They were both in the 1st Pioneer Battalion, basically a unit formed from Newcastle and surrounds.

He was married to Mary, and they had a daughter Elizabeth Annie who was 9 years old when he was killed (I'm still trying to trace any living descendants - Elizabeth married Edward C BOWLING at West Maitland in 1927).

He is buried at Aveluy Community Cemetery Extension, which we hope to visit to place a red poppy on his grave.

Day 1 Fri 19 Apr - The journey begins in ..... Paris

Visiting the Latin Quarter, Boulevarde Saint-Michel (just like Peter Starstedt in "Where do you go to my lovely") which is at the end of our street, Notre Dame.

Room 401 at l'Hotel Europe St Severin

Room with a view

View from a room

Day 2 Fri 20 April - Paris

Eiffel Tower, Seine lunch cruise with Jennifer and Heather Mead, walk through Jardin des Tuileries, along the river in front of Musee du Louvre, across the bridge of love padlocks.

P.S. And thanks to Feonie for the heads-up ..... walking along the Seine on a grassy tree-lined promenade in front of the Louvre, we were targeted by a most innocent looking young woman who bent over in front of us and picked up a gold-coloured ring!! After shooing her away, we watched as she was joined by a young man who must have been hovering near by, and they took off a bit smartish!!

Jardin des Tuileries

Bridge of Love Locks, Pont de l'Archevêché

Day 3 Sun 21 April - Paris, Lille

More Latin Quarter (it's only 5 mins walk away) - La Sorbonne, Lycee Henry-IV, walk through
Jardin du Luxembourg.

TGV train to Lille (bit bloody fast is them high speed train, what!!).

La Sorbonne

Luxembourg Gardens on a beautiful sunny day

Day 4 Mon 22 Apr - Lille, Iepers (Ypres)

And in the breakfast lounge, at the hotel in Lille, northern France, the musack is .... Crowded House " You better be home soon".

First day on the Western Front. What a shocking unnecessry wasteful loss of lives.

In the crater at Hill 60, created by an explosion detonated in the mine tunneled by Australians under the German trenches at Zilebeke in Belgium. This event was depicted in the film "Beneath Hill 60". This spot has become popular for wedding photographs.

Day 5 Tue 23 Apr - Iepers (Ypres), Fields of Flanders, Western Front

Visited Polygon Wood, Tyne Cot cemetary, Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, Menen Gate

As a part of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 there is a reconstruction of the massive network of tunnels beneath the battlefields where allied soldiers conducted the war - living quarters, communications, first aid andmedical treatment, stores, ammunition, etc.
A quite unnerving and realistic experience, knowing you're still at ground level but feeling like hundreds of feet below the surface. Quite an extensive exhibition.

They are now in the process of expanding the tunnel exhibition, so there is a considerable amount of construction and building work adjacent to the museum. We had finished the tour of the museum and were looking out the window at the construction work, the workmen suddenly ran from the work site. The bomb squad turned up and removed an unexploded device, believed to be a (heavily corroded but possibly active/intact) WW1 gas canister .... an every day occurrence all over the Fields of Flanders!!

Menin Gate at 8pm for Last Post ceremony. Wreaths laid by several groups, including student representatives from a Canadian school. All students sang Canadian national anthem at the end ("Oh Canada"). Found out later it was the anniversay of Canadian soldiers suffered casualties from coming under their first gas attack of the war.

Playing football on the site of the 1914 Christmas Truce football game between opposing English and German forces

A pile of unexploded devices at a farm front gate, waiting for collection by bomb squad. Uncovered while farming (a farmer died last year while ploughing when his tractor uncovered a bomb while ploughing ..... 90+ years after the war, in a field that had been ploughed already numerous times over the years).

Day 6 Wed 24 Apr - The Somme, Western Front (o/n Albert)

Heavy scheduled day - transferred from an 7-seater Mercedes van/bus with 6 of us to a massive luxury coach .... face to face seating at tables, bar, coffee, on-board loo, fully catered. There are now 34 of us for the next 2 days.

Visited : (Now on the Somme) VC Corner (British awarded 5 VCs before breakfast the day of that battle) and the Australian "Cobber's" Memorial at Fromelles (Don't forget me, cobber), Tiepval French and British Cemetary and monument,  The Windmill at Pozieres (Battle of the Somme), Fromelle Cemetary.

Then Val and I were taken separately in the van to Avuley a private visit to the grave of my grandfather's "little mate" who was accidentally killed when they were skylarking with grenades, and then on to the small nearby lake where they stole the boat to go to kill fish, and where Grandfather Linton received his severe wounds. That got me !!!!

At a lock on the River Somme (just near Aveluy)

The lake near Aveluy, where my grandfather was wounded.

English and French memorial, Tiepval

"Don't forget me, cobber" - Cobbers Corner, a statue of Sgt Fraser rescuing a wounded comrade during the Battle of Fromelles

Day 7 Thur 25 Apr - ANZAC Day Villers-Brettoneux, The Somme, Western Front

3am : Just had wake up call in the hotel at Albert, for a 3.30am departure to Villers-Brettoneux. Dawn service starts at 5.30am, but there wil be hundreds of buses on the road. Takes up to 30-45 mins to get there.

Dawn service at Villers-Brettoneux (Val found her friend Jennifer with her mother Heather, and another former school friend wwho she knew was going to be there .... in a crowd of 4000. Hundreds of coaches (the only way to get in, apart from a 3-4 km walk from the nearest town), lined up on a single lane extremely narrowcountry road acoss unfenced open fields. That sight in itself was an experience. Then on to Le Hamel (Australian and American battle honours) for breakfast, through Peronne (another town gratefully appreciative of Australian soldiers during WW1), and then to the Australian monument at Bullecourt.

And here lies a fantastic story. French history taught in schools gave little recognition to Bullecourt. After all, the main batlle for French forces was Verdun, so that naturally was then centre of WW1 for the French. However, in the early 1980s, at the little school in Bullecourt, children were frequentlybrining to school little pieces of Australian oriented memoribilia which haad been dug up in the fields(rising sun army hat badges, etc) and asking the teacher what theyy were, how they came to be there, etc. The teacher, Monsieur Claude Durand decided to pursue this, and wrote to the Australian ambassador  for France. He was subsequently promised some in formation about Australia's involvement around Bullecourt, and was sent Charles Bean's history of World War, comprehensive and detailed but difficult to read at the best of times (12 volumes), let alone if you have limited English.

M. Durand, with the school, decided to research the history, and raise funds for the erection of the monument to the Australians who fought. Now days, the same official party of French and Australian dignitaries who participated in the Villers-Brettoneux dawn service, repeat that service in the afternoon at the church in Bullecourt (this time in French) then march 1km or so to the memorial just out of town for wreath laying.

M. And Mme. Durand were awarded Order of Australia Medals because of their work.
Today, I (Greg) met and spoke to Mme. Durand. We had a 10 min or so conversation, she even gave her email address in case anyone we know wanted to contact her (for example, apparently it's not uncommon for someone to want a prayer said at a grave site for a special occassion - the soldiers birthday, anniversary of death, etc). She would try to oblige. What a fabulous woman (bit choked up here just writing about it).

I (Val) saw a lady walking towards the memorial wearing a large gold medal - I didn't recognise it as an Order of Australia Medal. Then on to ..... home. Well, to Lille anyway. Our tour was over, but some on the bus had only just started.

Overnight in Lille, then a 7am TGV high speed train departure for Avignon (4 hour train trip, what would otherwise take 8+ hours by car!).

Arrived at Villers-Brettoneux at 4.30am with the memorial floodlit in the background. Carrying coats not wearing them because not as cold as expected. Temp did drop as the morning drew nearer, feet very cold from the wet grass.

Cross of Sacrifice at floodlit memorial at Villers-Brettoneux (or as they signpost in France : Villers-Bx)

After the service, this is all the people waiting for their coaches. It was a narrow, single lane country road. Coaches could only go one way, single file. Three or four coaches would pull up, load their passengers, move away for the next lot of coaches. There were probably 150-200 coaches involved. In the distance, in the right background, you can make out the last 2 coaches queued up. They've probably got about 2 kms to go, by road, to get to the memorial site

Day 8 Fri 26 Apr - Lille > Avignon par TGV

Spent most of the day travelling (5 hours) from Lille. Arrived Avignon, drizzling rain (after 4 glorious days on the Western Front where Greg was even a bit sunburnt at the end of each day). On arrival, thought we'd be a bit independent and get a local bus into town ..... rain put a halt to that idea. Taxi to apartment 34 rue Sainte-Catherine, in the old city, one street away from the Palais des Papes (Popes Palace - Avignon was the centre for catholic church before the Vatican).

In the taxi on the way here we thought the taxi was heading to a dead end but at the end there would be another street tucked away. A couple of times the driver had to stop and back- up to turn the corner. We were concerned that we would get lost in all the little streets but with a very detailed map we have managed. also concerned about dark narrow street at night but the street lighting is strong and there is a constant stream of people going past. Apartment is incredible - small, comfortable, clean and functional. A kitchen/dining area, bathroom, bedroom, laundry (which used to be the apartment courtyard (that part is hard to viualise, given the size). 5 minutes walk from the main shopping centre (for the old city, at least). Maybe something elsewhere, but this one has food, restaurants, lots of clothes/fashion, other services, etc ..... and chocolate shops, and partisserie and boulangeries.

Interesting listening to French radio, a local FM station, picking up a few words here and there. But every song sounds like an entry from the Eurovision Song Contest! Except for Adele, very big in France is Adele (if the number of plays is anything to go by).

 A cup of coffee in the cafe on board the TGV

Day 9 Sat 27 Apr - Avignon

Heard the rain during the night and woke to overcast day. We came south expecting some warmer weather after the anticipated cold on the western front, mais non, it is the reverse. We enjoyed lovely days in the mid 20s in Flanders, Somme and Picardie, now in Avignon it is 10 degrees and drizzling.

Not to be deterred by a bit of rain we set out with umbrell as kindly provided by apartment owner, and a map, and made our way to Les Halles, the Avignon market similar to the Queen Victoria markets in Melbourne (but more french, of course). In our embarrassingly poor French remembered from high school so many years ago, we bought cheeses, fruit, veg, two kinds of terrine and bread, of course.

After lunch at a nearby cafe we headed off to the  magnificant Palais de Papes for an afternoon exploring this fortress/palace/museum. The English audio handset  was great and helped us understand what we were seeing.

Still feeling tired from our first week on the road on the Western Front, we dined "chez nous" on the produce from the market. The apartment has a small tv with some  English news channels so we watched SkyNews and  then turned in early.

View from the front window of our apartment on Rue Sainte-Catherine, Avignon

Looking up our street (from just outside our front door) towards the Palais des Papes, which can be seen against the skyline in the backgroud.

Looking down our street (in the opposite to the Palais des Papes, as in the next image). Our front door is on the right where the small street barriers are, just behind the grey car on the right.

A dead-end street?  (We walked around this corner every day, it's just a few yards from the apartment towards town)

A narrow squeeze, peut-etre?

Success!

Just one of the many wonderful shops in Avignon ....

Gold statue on top of cathedral of Palais des Papes, Avignon

Courtyard inside the Palais des Papes, Avignon

Day 10 Sun 28 Apr - l'Isle sur la Sorgue

l'Isle sur la Sorgue is a small town 25 minutes by Marseille train from Avignon. The "Isle" part of its name comes from the fact that most of the town is on an island surrounded by arms of the River Sorgue. The river is formed as a canal (about 10m wide, about 1m deep with flowing almost crystal clear waters) as it passes both sides of the town. The town is accessed by many footbridges.

Each Sunday is market day .... and we're not talking your local school playground type market.
Each street on either side of the canal is packed with every conceivable type of seller - and there would 2-3 kms of stalls on each street, as well as stalls down each side street. And most of the shops are open as well (bread shops, especially !!!).

Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is known for its antiques and objet-d'art. Wouldd be renovators heaven - in fact buyers come from all over Europe, including the UK, for market days. You could buy anything from a chandelier to a chunk of stonework that looked as if it just fell off an ancient building. As well, there are plenty of  sellers of all types of cheeses, hand/home made meat sausage of every variety (we bought a gold medal award winning fig one), more cheeses, clothes (bought a scarf for Greg), beautiful aromaric open-air cooked food, more sausages, accessory wear (bought a shoulder carry bag for Greg, also), more cheeses (the French know and love their cheeses!!). I saw a little summer cardigan I bought at Como markets a couple of years ago on sale - some products are the same the world over.

Breads, cheeses and sausage ... we are now so tres francais.

For the first two days I (Val) felt outside my comfort zone but day 3 was a turning point. Despite the rain we enjoyed the day and even managed to get to and from the station without using the map!

Isle de la Sorgue. The River Sorgue as it flows around the town (on the left, where just some of the market stalls can be seen), The town is on an island in the middle of the river.

One of the many, many stalls in the markets at L'Isle sur la Sorgue.

Notre-Dame-des-Anges Collegiate Church, L'Isle sur la Sorgue (We think there was a christening happening)

Ville de l'Isle de la Sorgue Ecole de Musique

Day 11 Mon 29 Apr - Avignon - Nimes - Uzes - Pont du Gard

Still raining and windy but we set off to dance on Pont d'Avignon. 200 m from our apartment we started the climb to the Doms Garden, climbing steeply to give great views over the rooftops of the old city. Umbrellas blowing inside out we looked out over a rather fast flowing Rhone River. We had thought of doing a river cruise but that sight made us change our minds.

The gardens were beautiful, especially the little cafe surrounded by a duck pond. We could see a few people venturing out onto the bridge below. They weren't doing much dancing, just take a quick pic and off the bridge (it's abit exposed out there). But by the time we reached it the rain had stopped and the wind dropped a little. Wasn't dancing weather but i did pose for a photo pointing my toe in a dance-like way. The words to the song wre displayed in the exhibition area, but they varied from those Greg & I learnt at school.

In the afternoon we did a half day tour to Nimes, Uzes and Pont du Gard. We were the only ones on the tour and we had an instant rapport with our tour guide Alistair, a rugby fan originally from Scotland. He showed us the main sites Nimes and then left us to wander and explore the Roman Arena and temple Maison Carre for ourselves. Then on to the small town of Uzes which I had read about when researching our trip as one of the places to stay. A couple of Aussie guys have apartments to rent there. Alistair had taken his wife there for her birthday so he took us on a walking tour around the town. It had a lovely atmosphere, not too touristy. I could certainly go back and spend a day or two there.

Next it was off to Pont du Gard. By this time there was black clouds with thunder and lightning as we approached. I was surprised at how impressed I was by the structure - it is very powerful and an amazing piece of engineering. I could see a red line on the upper level which i assumed was a safety barrier. Check the photo below to see what it was.

Back in Avignon by 7pm we had an ok but uninspiring meal in one of the many restaurants around the main square - surrounded by other dining tourists. Not a very genuine French atmosphere, but very convenient.

Neither rain nor drizzle shall stop the intrepid traveller from his important visit ...... On the steps near our apartment leading up to The Doms Garden at the Palais de Papes.

Sur la pont, d'Avignon. Both feet on the ground, a not-dancing visitor on the famous Benezet Bridge of Avignon

Place aux Herbes, Uzes

Pont du Gard aquaduct

Pont du Gard .... running repairs?

Day 12 Tue 30 Apr - Arles, Avignon

We decided to visit Arles, a town a few kilometers from Avignon, so we headed to the station. Greg has mastered buying train tickets from the self-service ticket machine. The only 'problem' is if you want a return ticket which is cheaper, you have to nominate what train you will return on so you have to guess how long you will want to stay there.

Arles is associated with Van Gough and we expected to see some of his work. But on Tuesday the most of the museums and galleries are closed and the main one was being renovated. There were some signs around the town indicating his favourite places to paint. Greg got really excited at an avenue of plane trees that he associated with Van Gough's work but it was hard to capture it with the camera.

Like Nimes, Arles also has a Roman Arena which is undergoing major restoration. Both are used for various events including regular bull fights.

There were rainy showers around all day but we managed to avoid them. By the time we arrived back in Avignon the clouds had lifted and people were sitting in the outdoor cafes and strolling in the squares. It wasn't sunny but at least it wasn't raining. I even saw a man in shorts and sandals!

We sat in the Place de Papes for quite a while listening to the accordian players and watching some kids create huge bubbles ( see photo) with some string and sticks. Looked like it would be easy to make and the kids certainly enjoyed it.

We had missed the weekly English guided walking tour of Avignon, so settled for a ride in a motorised little train that weaved around the narrow streets to the highlights of Avignon. It had headsets with multilingual audio options of commentary to choose from. We had already been to most of the places it took us but the audio added some local info.

The cafe in the lake in The Doms Garden of the Palais de Papes, Avignon. A bit of sunshine and it would be a perfect venue for lunch.

Like a scene from a van Gogh painting, the real-life Boulevard des Lices, Arles  

Day13 Wed 1 May - Avignon

You lose track of the date when you are travelling- we knew it was Wednesday but not that it was 1 May. We'd decided to have a quiet day in and around Avignon. I wanted to do some shopping and visit an art museum and Greg was going to sort out some blog challenges.

However, when we ventured out late morning we found most of shops were shut. Greg saw a lady with a red flag and a banner with a with slogan about the state of society on it and realised it was May Day.

In the city squares there were flower stalls selling little bouquets mainly of the sweet smelling lily of the valley - traditional gift to give to loved ones on 1 May. Yes, I bought one for Greg! Not sure he really appreciated it!

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and for the first time in 6 days I went out without the blue parka that I had been wearing in every photo in Avignon!

Luckily Les Halles (the produce markets) was open and we bought some goodies for lunch. On the way back to the apartment we found a local cafe that was open for dinner. We wandered back there for dinner at 6.30pm, way too early for a French cafe! So we had to stroll around a bit more and returned after 7pm. By about 8pm a few more locals had arrived. I enjoyed duck and Greg had entrecote. A glass of Rose made in Provence is very pleasant! It is still light at 8.30pm so we wove our way (not because of the rose but because the streets are so narrow and winding) home feeling very relaxed.

May Day flower seller, lilly of the valley and roses for your loved one. A french tradition

Sunshine! And everybody suddenly emerges and the city squares fill.

The green living wall at Les Halles, the produce markets in Avignon

Just a small sample of the produce offered at Les Halles market in Avignon

Evening dining at Le Cul de Poule in the Place des Carmes.

Day 14 Thur 2 May - Menerbres - le Roussillon - Gords - l'Abbaye de Senanque

Our best day in Avignon began with 9am pick-up at the tourist office for a half day tour of  some villages of the Luberon Region. The sun was shining - T-shirt weather! We were the only ones on the tour and our guide/ driver Benoir, originally from Brazil, was very knowledgeable about the area. We started at Menerbes, a small unspoilt village overlooking the surrounding countryside- fields ploughed and planted, old farm houses, stone walls and bright green and yellow crops. There was a beautifully located restaurant/wine cellar/produce shop called Maison de Truffle that I fell in love with. If we ever go back to that area I'm definitely going there for lunch. Benoir guided us through the village showing us the best places to take photos and pointing out and describing the traditional features of the houses and public buildings.

From there we went to Roussillon, another hilltop village, this one is famous for the ochre rock both on which it is built and used in the colouring of the buildings. Again there were fabulous views across the surrounding countryside, narrow winding streets, hand built stone walls, ancient arches, fresh produce stalls and spring flowers popping up making it very picturesque.

Gordes is very popular with Parisians who can afford to spend over a million euros to buy a secluded summer house. The views of the village and from the village were stunning. Again Benoir knew all the best vantage points to capture a photo.

From Gordes we wound our way down to The Abbey de  Senanque still inhabited by a silent order of monks. Benoir pointed out the different styles of architecture showing how the abbey had been extended at various times. In summer it is surrounded by fields of lavender so would bejust stunning to see and smell.

On the tour there wasn' t really  enough time to wander through the villages and fossick in the shops and back streets so I would love to go back and spend more time in all of them.
Back in Avignon I made a quick visit to the Angalon Museum hoping to see examples of the work of French artists like  van Gough, Gaugin and Cezanne who were inspired by the countryside around Avignon. I was disappointed - there was one example by each of the most famous artists but nothing spectacular. I will definitely have to visit the Musee de l' Orangerie when we are in Paris just before we come home to remind me of their work.

We ate dinner at a restaurant that I read about on Trip Advisor called "Why not?". It was close to our apartment so we thought why not? As usual we were the first customers for the evening!  It was very modern and quirky. Apparently there is a night club close by and I think it was aimed at that market. The food was great. I enjoyed semi-seared blue tuna with truffle oil and Greg had fillet mignon and a couple of glasses of locally produced rose each. A very pleasant end to our stay in Avignon.

Our tour guide/driver Benoit keeps a close eye on you-know-who at the Rosé display table in the cellar of the restaurant Le Maison de Truffe (famous for its use of truffles in its recipes).

In the fabulous village Rousillon, whose buildings are coloured by the ochre earth on which the village is built, high in the hills.

The red earth hills on which - and with which - the village is built.

Some of the different colours achived from the ochre used in the buildings of Roussillon.