Walking in Europe

A blog of Angus and Alison's walking tour of the Tour de Mont Blanc, Via degli Dei the Dobratsch Circuit in Carinthia, Austria, the Dolomites, Venice, and Iceland

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From the Oise River to the Somme River

A little bit of everything!

Thank you to Tam and Tony for shuttling a few of us back to the WFW route at Laffaux from our night in the very beautiful medieval city of Laon. We had cool morning temperatures (7 degrees C!) on the open paths toward Terny Sorny, then worked our way through some lovely but windy farmland, calm and shady forest, and canal and riverside along the Oisie River and Oise/Canal Du Nord system. A lovely lunch at Pont L’eveque and finishing the afternoon on a very pleasant (lower wind speeds!) ride along the canals coming into the Somme River system and into a very pretty city of Peronne. Today did not have many stops of interest, so we pressed on: 116kms..

We stopped at two German cemeteries at Nempcel with approximately 13,000 graves combined from battles along the river Aisne, and a French cemetery at Tracy-Le-Mont.

German war grave markers are typically grey, while the French are white.
A picture of “cracking on”. UK parlance for stepping it up and covering the kms!
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7 responses to “From the Oise River to the Somme River”

  1. Oaracle Avatar
    Oaracle

    Enjoying scrolling through the photos in the gallery. Looks like great cycling.

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    1. Angus Graeme Avatar
      Angus Graeme

      It has been amazing, such incredible infrastructure of paths and routes.

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  2. Maureen Cowin Avatar
    Maureen Cowin

    Angus,
    Thanks so much for your photos, commentary and background notes – it’s great to follow you! You are reminding me of a trip I took in 2013: a bus tour of Canadian sites in Normandy (mainly WWII). The Commonwealth and German cemeteries are very powerful. Once you get to Vimy Ridge, try locking your bike and approaching the monument on foot from the downhill side. Wishing you and your companions decent weather and strong legs!
    Maureen

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    1. Angus Graeme Avatar
      Angus Graeme

      Thank you so much, Maureen. I was quite overwhelmed at the Verdun Memorial, and imagine that Vimy will have a similar effect. Today Len is taking us to the Newfoundland memorial. Small group in the overall number of dead, but an entire generation of young men for that province which joined Canadian confederation in 1949.

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  3. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    So much to process. Your pictures and descriptions are vivid.

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. jenni martin Avatar
    jenni martin

    Love seeing the photos bring memories for me.
    Beautiful scenery, awesome, emotional and fitting as we are coming into Remembrance Day

    Mom served in world war II. We went on as tour London, France, Belgium – I was brought to tears several times being immersed in history, and architecture.
    It blew my mind walking up the Belford tower in Bruges and seeing those stone steps worn out in the centre from years of people walking them.

    Ride on, you are doing so good!

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    1. Angus Graeme Avatar
      Angus Graeme

      Thank you Jenni. It’s great to hear from you. I’m m planning on the walk up the tower!

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