October 4 started as a beautiful sunny day. The walnut tree in Genevieve's yard was dropping nuts that were great to eat. While Genevieve made dinner, we walked around Toutencourt. We stopped at the cemetery up the road and dicovered that all of the women in one local family died very young.

Suddenly the quiet of the cemetery was broken by a jet fighter flying over at a few thousand feet. We learned later that there is a fighter base about 30 km from Toutencourt and flyovers are a common event. Nicisse told us that the windows in the houses of Toutencourt never stopped vibrating during World War I because of the artillery. It seems they are still rattled regularly by jets!

During our walk around the village we saw one building with a compass rose (above right) painted on it. We learned that at one time this building had been a cafe where people gathered to play cards.

After dinner it was time to go to Arras. Genevieve had another surprise for us. Just as we finished dinner, her friend Marie-Jo arrived. She was leaving for Turkey in two weeks, and as we soon found out, had volunteered to drive us all to Arras. Marie-Jo did everything with a great deal of energy. That included driving! We arrived in Arras almost before we knew it.

Jan, Genevieve and Marie-Jo on Genevieve's dolmen.

Arras is located in the Pas-de-Calais area of France close to Belgium, and much of the architecture is 17th-century Flemish-style. The two squares in the middle of the city are examples of this style. We stopped at the Hôtel de Ville located on one of the two squares, the Place des Héros. The two legendary figures Colas Dédé and Jacqueline (below right) are carried around the square during local festivals. When not swaggering around the square, they are on display in the foyer of the Hôtel de Ville.

There was one more site on our agenda this afternoon, so it was back to the car. Marie-Jo knows the area around Arras quite well, and she headed toward Ste. Catherine in the direction of Vimy, our final destination. We followed the signs for Ste. Catherine until we got to a rotary which had signs for many towns but not for Ste. Catherine or Vimy! Which way to go? We went around the rotary twice before Marie-Jo decided which route to take. It wasn't the right one. Fortunately, since she was experienced with this type of confusion, she was at least going in the right direction. She spotted a sign for Lens, which was in the general direction of Vimy, and took the turnoff for Lens. After a few more minor adjustments we arrived in Vimy! At that point I no longer felt so bad about getting lost on French roadways. Marie-Jo's advice was "when in doubt, head for the middle of the town your in." That's where roads branch out for all nearby towns.

Lens and the mounds of coal around it seen from the Vimy monument.

Sheep used to detect live ammunition still hidden in the fields around the Vimy monument.

I had never heard of the battle of Vimy Ridge, but World War I had so many horrific battles, it is hard to know them all. In this battle 20,000 Canadians attacked a German possition on top of Vimy ridge. In a day-long operation, they took the top of the ridge at the cost of 10,602 casualties and 3,598 dead. The monument is actually a tribute to all Canadians who died in the First World War. The names of all 11,285 Canadians who died are carved into the walls of the monument.

After visiting this monument, and in 2001 the one at Thiepval which honors 73,367 British soldiers buried in unmarked graves, we had a better appreciation of the carnage of World War I. Sheep that graze around the shell craters that surround the monument are also a reminder of the number of munitions used. The area, with the exception of the footpaths, is surrounded with fences and signs warning of unexploded munitions. The sheep grazing here occasionally set off munitions when they walk across them, munitions from a battle that was fought over 86 years ago!

On the way home Marie-Jo took us on a tour of the villages North and East of Toutencourt. She showed us her aunt's house that she biked to regularly. The road had the some of the steepest hills I've ever seen. Anyone who can bike that is in fantastic shape!

That night Marie-Jo and her husband Michel were Genevieve's guests for dinner. We all celebrated a fun day and evening with glasses of champagne as we swirled pieces of French bread into cheese fondue.