Albert
So... I arrived in Albert (pronounced Al - bear)
Nice hotel - booked in and got settled then went downtown to see what was offering.
Sunday arvo, so not a lot of action..
Two things I wanted to see...
1. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières
This has an interesting history...
From the website..
Black and white photographic print which depicts the partially destroyed Basilica of Note-Dame de Brebieres in Albert. In January 1915 the statue positioned on top of the Basilica of the Virgin Mary and her child, also known as the 'Golden Virgin', was hit by a German shell. The statue did not fall off the steeple at this point but remained hanging at a right angle up until the almost complete demolition of the building in April 1918. A number of legends developed amongst the thousands of soldiers who passed through Albert around the 'Leaning Virgin' including the myth that whichever side caused the statue to fall, would lose the war. The German army recaptured the town of Albert in March 1918. To prevent the Germans from using the Basilica as an observation post the British Army bombarded it with artillery where upon the statue finally fell. The remains of the statue were irrecoverable amongst the debris.
So my prayers today were especially for my family....
As Sr Jacinta used to say - "It's not just Our Lady's - it's Our Lady of Perpetual Succour".....
Yet another beautiful Cathedral in France.
And yet another reminder of the consciousness of war in the Somme
2. The other thing I wanted to visit in Albert was the museum. It was actually situated in an old wartime bunker, so to access it you descended down into an old passage way of brick beneath the surface of the earth. Gave it a very authentic feel...
I took lots of pics of the many exhibits they had set up, most of which I hope to use in my history lessons when I return, but here are a few...
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| German Bunker |
The museum was very informative and traced the history of the war. When I return home, if anyone is interested in any more of the pics, I will happily share them
The weather was overcast today with a drizzling rain - kind of matches the mood of the region. As I mentioned earlier, when you look out of the rolling hills of very beautiful country it is so hard to imagine the vestiges of war taking place and those hell holes that were bunkers with the rats and mud.
It has been good to be here and see where it all happened. Just put things in a time and a place.
What a contrast to Honfleur yesterday which is built on tourism and luxury...
On that deep thought - I'm off to bed!!!
Do you find it amazing that there are so many links between the countries of Europe and war events. We saw houses in Scotland where special forces trained - 2 of these men returned to Germany to kill an 'unkillable' general. We actually learned about the killing then found out about the Scottish houses later then put it all together!
ReplyDeleteI'm absolutely loving all the history of France. I'm sure it will continue when I go to the UK too and maybe I will then be able to make those connections you mention...
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