Day 28 – Mon 07 Jul 14, Amiens to Arras
Forecast: 9-21 deg C, mostly sunny with some
light showers; Listed distance: 64 km; Actual distance: 72 km; Cumulative
distance: 1142km; Av speed: 16.5 km/h; Max speed: 44.7 km/h; Amiens: 12 deg C; Arras:
24 deg C; Start time: 7:45am; Stop time: 2:20pm; Ride time: 4h20m
Breakfast started at 6:30am so we were able to leave before 8am. It was a very chilly, but clear morning and we were soon out of town but on a very busy road with Monday morning traffic, including BIG trucks, all doing at least 100km/h!! About 10km out of town the map directed us onto a less busy road. However, after another 10km or so, we re-joined the busy road! After 5km and seeing the look on Wendy’s face, Greg found a smaller, less busy road to Albert. It even had a major blockage due to road works but we just climbed over the mountain of dirt they used to close the road and continued on, much to the amusement of the road-workers. It was much less stressful but a little windy and quite rough in some places.
There wasn't much to see in Albert so we cycled on to Thiepval, the French-British Memorial which was much the same theme as V-B, with a cemetery for the bodies and a memorial for the MIA.
From there it was another tour of the country roads and tiny towns for another 32 km before making it to Arras. There were plenty of quite big hills today and although we had a tailwind, Wendy found a little more character however lost a little sense of humour along the way.
We checked-in at the Holiday Inn Express, did some washing then some serious forward planning to try and use up the three extra nights before we get to Guido and Magda in Brussels.
Wendy had a nana nap while Greg went for a walk to get a decent road map as the phone runs out of battery power or reception just when you need it most. The Tourist Information centre could only give him a tourist type map of the battlefield sites, but at least it had the road numbers and small towns marked on it. He also explored the City Hall, with its historical displays, and the Grand Place which was completely surrounded by a fairly sad 1920s attempt to reproduce the great architecture of the 17th century. At least they tried.
Dinner was had at an Italian bar/restaurant where we both had pasta carbonara and a beer. To settle the dinner before retiring, we wandered the long way back to the hotel.
Breakfast started at 6:30am so we were able to leave before 8am. It was a very chilly, but clear morning and we were soon out of town but on a very busy road with Monday morning traffic, including BIG trucks, all doing at least 100km/h!! About 10km out of town the map directed us onto a less busy road. However, after another 10km or so, we re-joined the busy road! After 5km and seeing the look on Wendy’s face, Greg found a smaller, less busy road to Albert. It even had a major blockage due to road works but we just climbed over the mountain of dirt they used to close the road and continued on, much to the amusement of the road-workers. It was much less stressful but a little windy and quite rough in some places.
There wasn't much to see in Albert so we cycled on to Thiepval, the French-British Memorial which was much the same theme as V-B, with a cemetery for the bodies and a memorial for the MIA.
From there it was another tour of the country roads and tiny towns for another 32 km before making it to Arras. There were plenty of quite big hills today and although we had a tailwind, Wendy found a little more character however lost a little sense of humour along the way.
We checked-in at the Holiday Inn Express, did some washing then some serious forward planning to try and use up the three extra nights before we get to Guido and Magda in Brussels.
Wendy had a nana nap while Greg went for a walk to get a decent road map as the phone runs out of battery power or reception just when you need it most. The Tourist Information centre could only give him a tourist type map of the battlefield sites, but at least it had the road numbers and small towns marked on it. He also explored the City Hall, with its historical displays, and the Grand Place which was completely surrounded by a fairly sad 1920s attempt to reproduce the great architecture of the 17th century. At least they tried.
Dinner was had at an Italian bar/restaurant where we both had pasta carbonara and a beer. To settle the dinner before retiring, we wandered the long way back to the hotel.
Basilique Notre-Dame de Brebires at Albert
Thiepval Memorial and Cemetery
Room 311 Holiday Inn Express Arras
A pizza vending machine, the smell was amazing
Northern France
Arras Town Hall
'Grand' Palace Arras
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