Brian and Jackie Cross: Northern France

Friday, 5 October 2018

Northern France - Days 2 & 3

A lot has happened in two days, so a quick catch up. We're now in Saint-Valery-Sur-Somme in Northern France at the point where the River Somme meets the English Channel. Its a very old historic place, much like a lot of places in this northern part of France, and has a medieval section with a tower famous for the place Joan of Arc was held captive by the English in 1431 (the town has changed hands between the English and French a number of times in the past), but it's also the place that William of Normandy assembled his fleet to mount the sucessful invasion of England in 1066 and crown himself William I or William the Conqueror. The river Somme itself is very silted up, so access to the port is along a canal and it was this that we walked along.

On our Aire in St-Valery-Sur-Mer. Big Ted with his eye mask on

We're on our first 'Aire', a municipal campground on the edge of the town that provides cheap, secure camping for motorhomes for €12 per night, electric hook up included. Its 1.2km walk into the town and the river/canalside and we did a 5mile circular walk into town, along the river/canalside towards the sea (it was still a long way off!), back through the medieval part of the town, through the town centre, out to the port and back across country to our campsite.

The ramparts surrounding Montreuil-Sur-Mer

We wrote our last entry from our first stop in France at La Fontaine des Clercs campsite in Montreuil-sur-Mer and had another full day there to explore the old walled town that has a lot of history and a citadel to explore. In the 15th century it was important as a defence against the Spanish, as the border with the Spanish Netherlands was only 10km away. During the First World War it became, in 1916, the British headquarters for operations of the bloody trench warfare being fought not far away, its strategic position accessible from both London and Paris within a day and, in 1943, the Germans built army barracks and a prison here for POW's.

Walking round the old citadel

Today it's a pleasant place to visit, a walk round the ramparts, high on a hill gives fabulous views down to the river, which once was so large, ships could sail right into town, but it silted up in the sixteenth century and the sea is now 13km away. We visited the citadel and took an audio tour, which was all a bit too long and boring, but there were interesting exhibits about the two world wars and, the best bit, a very talkative 'guide' cat who followed us around meowing frequently. The other claim to fame the town has is that its old cobbled streets were used for the film Les Miserables, as Victor Hugo set the first half of his play here.

Health and Safety at work in Montreuil-Sur-Mer!

Statue of Marshal Haig, British commander during WWI

We left there this morning and took a couple of detours on the way to Saint-Valery-Sur-Somme, mainly as Brian wanted to take in a bit more history. Two famous battles took place nearby during the hundred years war between the English and the French, the first one every English school child has heard about, Agincourt, fought in 1415. It was a half hour drive from where we were staying, in the wrong direction, so, although there was little to see, it would be thought provoking to stand on the site of one of the few victories by the English in this long, actually 116 years long war, that was eventually won by the French.

Our guide-cat in the citadel. He followed us everywhere

The final victory by the French lost all French territory occupied by the English, leading to the Wars of the Roses in England, the death of Richard II by Henry VII and the subsequent protestant revolution by his son Henry VIII, the effects of which we are still living with today, so it's quite significant in English history. Unfortunately the Agincourt museum, in the village of Azincourt (Location: 50deg 27'49.22N 2deg 7'38.8E), is closed for 10 months for refurbishment and there was no information outside, so it was all a bit of an anticlimax and we were not able to get any grasp of the scale of the massacre of French knights by the English with their longbows. Another British motorhome pulled into the car park while we were there on a similar quest, another bored wife and a husband eager to look round (the longbow originated from Japan he told me, well, I didn't know that!). Update on 06-10-18 - After Abi contacted her friend Paul, querying the longbow originating in Japan, here's what an expert says: "Oldest known bow, estimated to be ten thousand years old, was found in a peat bog in northern Europe but, looking at European cave paintings, archery goes back about twenty thousand years. Just impossible to say for sure since bows were made from wood and wood, unless preserved in places like peat bogs (or siltbed of the Solent), rots. So no, the longbow probably didn't originate in Japan (although their bows are well worth taking a look at)."

The 'closed for 10 months for refurbishment' Agincourt museum

The viewing platform at the Battle of Crecy site

We left them to wander through the village and we headed off for our next bit of history, the site of the Battle of Crecy (Location: 50deg 15'22.1N 2deg 53'13.2E), only another 30 minutes drive, this time in the direction we wanted to go. This battle was another victory for the English in the hundred years war, but fought much earlier on in 1346 by the man himself, King Edward III of England, father of the Black Price and grandfather of Richard II. It was the first battle in which the six foot longbow was used with devastating effect against the heavily armoured French and also the first time cannon and gunpowder were used, also with devastating effect.

Edward III stood here and French troops came up from behind those trees

A wooden viewing platform gives really good views of the battlesite on the actual site Edward III stood to view the battle. Its on the top of a hill facing south and the French approached from Abbeville, in the South West. They skirted round and attempted to mount the hill from the south, but got cut down by troops led by the Black Prince. How thought provoking to stand on the actual site and see the contours of the land and imagine the battle. With such weaponry available to the English and see the slope of the hill up which the French had to climb, they really had no chance.

Here's the information board showing English troop movements under the Black Price in red, and French troops in blue

Big Ted from the viewing platform

So we left there and drove another 30 minutes, arriving at Saint-Valery-Sur-Somme in time for afternoon cake and then a walk into town. Tomorrow we head further along the coast into Normandy and hope to stay at another Aire in Etretat, which looks quite interesting (but no history!). We're not booking anything in advance, as recommended by many people, so we have a plan B and plan C in case its full when we get there. Its slightly scary, but its the way everyone seems to do it, so we're going with the flow!