Vimy Ridge, 2013

We had visited a number of WWI sites and memorials on previous trips to France and Belgium. They are like Gettysburg, writ large. Very large. Unlike WWII, it was a war, perhaps the last great war, between armies, men in uniform. There were battles in WWI, I have read (Mons?), in which the British lost more men in uniform than they did in the whole of WWII. In the Second World War, most casualties were among non-combatants.

After a score or so of WWI cemeteries we decided to stop again at one of the many memorials. The Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge is relatively unique in that the battlefield has been left as it was, or now is. There is an excellent visitor center and some hundreds of meters of trench and "subway" are open to tour. Electrified fences keep visitors on approved trails. There are un-detonated explosives all over the grounds, some still viable just a few years ago. Much of the warfare here was subterranean. An explosives specialist was killed in 1998, not by a detonation, but by the collapse of a tunnel.

En route, one of the many memorials that dot
the countryside

Looking to what was left of the village of Vimy, 1916

Very able Canadian college students conduct tours; there
are displays and a superb video at the visitor center

A British mortar

Out in the trenches now, standing at a Canadian look-out
post

What the Canadian look-out posts looked like from the German
side

Trench-work on the German side; note their stone-work
observation post

The forest has come back mostly, but there are artillery
craters everywhere, some building-size; it was an artillery
war

Me in the German observation post; just happy to be
able to fit in

Much of France is so dedicated

Steps down to the "subway," the improved
subterranean route, sometimes going for
kilometers, for communication and supply

NB

At the Memorial itself, on which ground thousands of
Canadians died; they took Vimy Ridge, 3,000 killed, 7,000
wounded; among many Canadian triumphs in WWI

The great Vimy Ridge Memorial

Into The Somme

Every village, town, and city in France has its war memorials, proudly maintained and honored. In eastern France, where much of the Great War was fought, the hundreds of cemeteries and memorials honor the dead, but also bear witness to the horror of war, and particularly that war.

A memorial in the cathedral at Noyon was
among the first that caught our attention

Our route north from Amiens now traversed the shifting
lines of battle of the Sommes offensive, July-November, 1916;
1.2 million lives were lost in the offensive; the British lost
21,000 killed and 35,000 wounded just the first day; the line
moved a couple of miles, which the Germans quickly gained
back in 1918

We stopped at one of the many British cemeteries along
our route; not a large one, really

Perhaps a third of the markers bore this
inscription...

Albert: Art Deco Town

So after a pretty full day we departed Amiens. FWIW, our new favorite cathedral is Bourges, to which we'll return next fall. Great architecture, good sculpture, windows of great quality and age you can actually see; and even touch. Best all-around.

Anyhow, Vicki had read that on our way north now was the town of Albert, pretty much destroyed in WWI, but which had rebuilt with a substantial number of Art Deco homes and buildings. So we headed there for a look before driving on to Arras' camping aire. We walked and drove around Albert for nearly two hours, looking for the Art Deco district or neighborhood or whatever.

Absolutely the only thing we found that might conceivably
qualify as Art Deco is this pretty nice specimen: now a gun shop
(which is pretty rare in France)

But we did see some other interesting sights,
including this, the city hall

And this--I swear I am not making this up--
a bread vending machine; we actually bought
six croissants and pains chocolats...2 euros

And then this, Albert's Basilica, Notre Dame
de Brebieres; note the giant golden Virgin and
Child at the top

There's always room for another church, even if it's a neo-Byzantine

Complete with mosaics all over

But this one is famous and special: in WWI,
the church took 2,000 artillery hits, leaving
the golden Virgin and Child weirdly askew;
among the soldiers there arose the
superstition that when she fell the war would
end; it finally ended, and she and the church
all were put back aright, at unimaginable
expense, of course

Amiens Out-takes

Sure, Mark, I'd love to see more of your Amiens Cathedral
pix...

Me, In Majesty

So we noticed early on that quite a lot of this cathedral's
visual program concerned chopping peoples' heads off

Thus

And thus

And thus

And then we remembered that Amiens' Cathedral's great
relic (as if being the greatest building of its age weren't
enough) was the head of John the Baptist

And there it is, now relegated to a chapel on the northern
apse; I have now figured out why the Roman Christian
crusaders actually sacked Constantinople in the early
1200s: revenge for getting taken on all these relics the
Orthodox Christians foisted on them; read Umberto Eco's
Baudolino for a humorous treatment of all this

From the virtues/vices panel: never disagree with your bishop

One of the saints, after several escape attempts, has been
restrained

It rained almost the whole day we were in Amiens: this is my failed attempt
to capture a gargoyle actually doing what it is supposed to do

One of the disadvantages of being such a big cathedral: a resident flock of pigeons

Amiens' Sculpture

While Chartres has the most intact stained glass, Amiens has the more intact sculpture. Here is a sampling, all pretty much 13th century.

Just about everything that follows is from the west side,
but this venerated Virgin and Child is from the south...
moved indoors now to protect from the elements, a copy
in her place on the porch outside

Assorted saints, apostles, whatever, atop, but in the quadrifoils below, the
activities of the months (think Zodiac)

Last Judgment; so-so, but nice Jaws of Hell on the right

Wise Virgins (the vertical panel), their lamps held upwards;
a healthy tree at the bottom

Foolish Virgins, empty lamps, dead tree

More saints, et al.; more quadrifoils, this time representing vices and virtues

Closer up on the condemned

A Mary sequence in pairs: Annunciation, Visitation, Presentation

Top quadrifoil: things fall apart

Above Mary and Baby J, the Ark of the Covenant, and to its right, Moses (with
horns; this was a translation issue, like virgin)

Rats in Jerusalem (things really falling apart)

Things really, really, falling apart

On a more cheerful note, warming before a fire in the winter
months

Not all the sculpture is outside; here is one of two bronze 13th century sarcaphogi