A footy match to rememberApr 23, 2011
|
|
Notice the different corp badges and countries
Warley Baillon Cemetary
The Australian Stadium
| We head off into the French countryside. The best word to describe the scenery is ‘pretty’. Most of the crops are up, the canola is in flower and the trees are in bloom. Left and right through the country roads, little villages every couple of kms and very few people to be seen. Looking through the gates in the villages we can see huge farmyards housing tractors and all sorts of farm implements. Many of the tractors are out tilling the few bare paddocks or spraying some of the crops. There are no fences, everything is so neat and there are few livestock. We do see some housed in the sheds. Early afternoon we make our way to Villers-Bretonneux in search of a football match. We are given directions by some Aussies lunching in one of the cafes – funny how we are so easy to pick out in a crowd. We arrive at the ground in time for the official ceremonies – the two teams, one Aussies - the other French, are lined up and some official gives a speech in French and a ribbon is cut. We are plied with champagne while the two teams warm up – then the introductions of the individual players, the last post and a minute’s silence and finally the national anthems. Noticeable that the French sing their anthem with gusto (much like the Americans). Why is it that we are so reticent when singing ours? We line the boundary and watch the 3rd Anzac Cup to be played at Villers-Bretonneux. Very one-sided unfortunately with the Aussies thrashing the French. All the players from both sides play in a 16 team association in France and England. We spend the afternoon with another couple from Australia who live in Cairns but are in the middle of a four-month trip through Britain and Europe. On our return to Amiens we spend time going around in circles looking for our new hotel – lots of one way streets, bus only lanes and signs we don’t understand. Why are they in French?? Finally we are installed in our new home for the next couple of days and – ‘Pierre’ (our little van) is parked on the streets – we have to leave by 9am tomorrow or start feeding the meter. We find a supermarket and stock up with groceries and water before checking out the restaurants along the canal. Very scenic where we are, quite close to the cathedral (Notre Dame) – apparently the biggest in France so we will have to check it out. We meet a couple from Sydney and join them for tea – a lovely evening sitting outside. The weather has been superb. Back home and some research to do on what and where we go tomorrow. |
Advertisement 
|
