Day 24 - 20 April 2019 Saturday - Amiens

A day out in the field today, beautiful weather again, clear blue skies and about 22 degrees C.  What more could you want.

In order of attendance I visited the following;

Lochnagar Crater - large crater left by the explosion of an underground mine under the German front lines on the first day of the battle of the Somme.

Pozieres - the Windmill - One of the objectives of the Australians during their involvement in the battle of the Somme

Pozieres - 1st Division Memorial - traditional obelisk memorial to the 1st Division AIF near the site of the remains of a German blockhouse known to the British as Gibraltar.

Pozieres - site where great uncle Horrie (26th Btn, Gallipoli veteran) was shot and wounded.

Thiepval - museum - Newish museum at the Thiepval memorial visitor centre featuring a magnificent 60 metre long mural of the 1st day of the battle of the Somme, sort of like a modern Bayeux tapestry.

Thiepval - memorial & cemetery - The British now have young uni students doing a sort of internship here taking tours and helping visitors (a bit like volunteers at the Shrine, but not quite as knowledgeable or good looking), similar to what the Canadians have been doing at Beaumont Hamel and Vimy for years.  This is the major British memorial on the Somme and has the names of some 70,000 British and South African dead soldiers who have no known grave enscribed on its walls.

Thiepval - Leipzig redoubt - One of the German strong points that cost the British dearly on the 1st day of the battle of the Somme.  

Dinner was in an Italian restaurant across the road from my hotel.  I had a delicious tagliatelle carbonara that comes served with a raw egg on top.  The idea is that you mix the raw egg into the dish and when you mix it up the heat of the meal cooks the egg.  I also had a delicious tiramasu all accompanied by the appropriate drinks.

Fun Fact:  They are still revolting in Paris!

Step Count: 11,099

Observation: Still only two kisses.