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Saturday March 28. Bapaume. 23.7 km.

 The Via Francigena app alarmed me stating that today’s walk was 30 km.  I decided to risk it anyway, despite this being my first day and despite my not having walked much over the winter.  It actually clocked in at 23.7 km, although my feet feel like it was 100 km and it took me seven hours!

It was market day in Arras, and one of their two big downtown squares was full of vendors as I left.

Lots of interesting brick (and tile) work to look at in the streets. People must have fun coming up with patterns!

Once out of the city, the countryside is flattish, all industrial-sized fields with silos and grain storage units clustered in large agro-industrial parks.  Fields have been plowed and wheat (I think) is coming up green.

Every now and again there is a beautifully kept Commonwealth war cemetery, low walls, neat rows, well-tended flower beds.  In these smallish country cemeteries some German graves mingle with the others, with the same grave stones and the same flowers as the British soldiers beside them. Here is an example.

750,000 Commonwealth soldiers died on this front, the Western Front ( a line from Belgium to Switzerland - I’m walking close to where the horrific Battle of the Somme took place) in the First World War. They are buried in over 1,000 war cemeteries and over 2,000 civil cemeteries.  The gravestones reflect a wide spread of ages - from 18 to 45 on the ones I saw today.

There was one German WWI cemetery on my path. Particularly moving for me were the tombstones of Jewish soldiers, several of whom fought as regular German soldiers in the war. 1,550 soldiers lie in this one small cemetery alone. The numbers are staggering.

Which is Bapaume and which is Belleville ON?  Alright, they are far from identical, but one certainly reminds me of the other one!




Comments

  1. RitaMarch 29, 2026 at 7:33 AM

    Lots packed into one day, Celia. The cemeteries are particularly sobering. Hope your feet have recovered from their baptism by fire!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BevMarch 31, 2026 at 6:04 PM

    Wow, what a first day. Love that hotel and that style of architecture. Im glad it wasn't 30km on the first day.

    ReplyDelete

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