Day 88. 21.6.23

Sedan to Bellicourt, France

We had a little bit of rain overnight which made this morning a lovely fresh one. Packing up slowly, our next destination was a little french commune called Bellicourt. We passed St Quentin (stopped there last time) and as you approach and drive on the ring road you can see from miles away, the huge imposing cathedral, rising magestically above the city. In times gone by it would have been a great landmark for travellers and pilgrims. It’s definitely worth a visit if you have a mind to.

Needing a lunch break, we popped off the main road and stopped to eat by a local football pitch. Meg had some time off the lead too which she loved. As some of you may know, France seems to be abandoned come lunchtime. There’s no-one walking in the villages and all the shops are shut. But, should you find a restaurant, you’ll be sure to find the workers and locals.

Stopping for lunch is a religion in itself here. Many a time we have pulled up outside a little restaurant and disappointingly found it full or that serving had finished. As most of them do a ‘plate of the day’ (plat du jour), once it’s all gone the kitchen closes.

Not that we saw a lot of restaurants today as our route was quite rural and we passed mainly communes, which are like hamlets for us.

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Bellicourt is a commune but has a number of WW1 sites and memorials in its area. It also provides a free motorhome stopover (sadly the terminal is broken, but we don’t need any services today, so not a problem) located in the carpark of a museum.

The museum is in an old electric towing tug situated above a canal tunnel measuring 5,679m. This is the St Quentin canal commissioned by Napoleon in 1802. It’s still open for pleasure boat trips . We walked down to the tunnel and could feel a very cool breeze blowing through it. You would certainly need a jumper on in there!

Walking further along the tow path and then up through the woods skirting the canal you arrive at a famous bridge, The Riqueval Bridge.

This bridge was pivotal in the breaking of the German defence line in the Somme called The Hindenburg line on 28 September 1918. It was the only surviving bridge across the canal as it was the supply line for the German forces, so taking it and ensuring it wasn’t destroyed was important.

Sadly as the vegetation on either bank is so overgrown we couldn’t get a picture of the structure, just the road bridge itself. There’s an amazing picture of the allied soldiers sitting on the bank when the bridge had been taken. I’ve included it here, you’ll need to zoom in.

The tunnel itself was used by the Germans as a fortress, blocked at both ends. This also fell to the allied troops on the same day as the bridge.

What a couple of treasures to find in this little commune we had never heard of before.

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