We travelled through the battlefields of the Somme today, predominantly the 1916 battlefields.

First stop was at Albert. Tiny streets lots of cars and a church with the golden Maddona holding the baby Jesus.

Albert Church Spire

It was then on to Lochnagar Crater, a mine blown by the British at the start of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916. This crater is huge with the pictures not really demonstrating how large this is. To try and give some scale here is memorial cross with Rory standing next to it

The Cross at the edge of the Lochnagar Crater. Rory is standing next to it

And here is the same cross from the other side of the crater. There are four wreaths at the bottom of the crater.

The Crater with the same cross as the above photo

Back on the D929 and just before reaching the village of Pozieres is the Pozieres British Military Cemetery.

Pozieres British Military Cemetery

The 1^st Division memorial at the edge of Pozieres was next. Here it is with a view into the town. See the separate Pozieres entry for details of Pozieres.

First Divisional Memorial at Pozieres

Thiepval was next, the site of the memorial to the British missing and a joint Anglo-French cemetery in recognition of the Allies joint sacrifice.

Thiepval Memorial to the missing

Joint Anglo-French cemetery at Thiepval from the Memorial

Further along is another Somme battlefield, this one dedicated to the Newfoundlanders, with an impressive Caribou memorial and preserved trenches.

Entrance to Beaumont-Hamel

 Off to see the Bullecourt digger. Turns out this memorial lies on a one lane road

We have arrived in Amiens and wifey has put the pressure on over at her blog, by

1) Blogging and

2) Saying I will post some pics.

The Cathedral is the most impressive building in town, built in the 1200s and surviving since that time. It can be seen from along way out of Amiens. During the day it looks like this.

Amiens Cathedral

And here is a close up of the middle portal showing Jesus in the centre with the 12 disciples and some old testament prophets

Middle Portal of the Amiens Cathedral Facade

During this time of year they put on a light display to show how the façade would have looked when it was painted. There is a narrative that goes with the display but being in French I can offer no words as to the story of the place. Here is what the façade would have looked like at some point in its history.

The Amiens Cathedral Light display, showing what the cathedral would have looked like when it was painted.

And here is the Jesus Portal lit up

The middle portal lit up

We took a tour of the cathedral on our first day here. The interior is vast and unheated. Breathing steam indoors was a first I believe.

Looking toward the congregation

One of the stained glass windows

Two exhausted people taking in the Cathedral

More soon

First attempt at a cyber-adventure for the Swainsonian

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!