Views of the shrine at Lourdes

This was one of the most peaceful places that I went in all my travels. I was lucky that the weather was good, and it was lovely just to walk around this beautiful site with no sense of rush, or pressure of any kind. Everywhere, there was an atmosphere of quiet, prayer and respect, and I did not know then how hard these things would be to find in some other places.

Gates at St Jean Pied de Port

Readers with good memories will recall that this is the town in France from which pilgrims set off to cross the mountains to Spain. These are the gates through which travellers have entered and left for hundreds of years.

Bordeaux Station

This was the only bit of Bordeaux that I got to see, as I changed trains en route to Biarritz. If you ever have to change there, make sure that you have plenty of time to get your connection - it is the largest, most confusing and worst signposted station that I have ever been in!

Tours - Old Town

This is where I spent the first night of my travels through France and Spain

Wind-surfers at Le Touquet

Look at that sea - I'm glad we're coming through the Tunnel tomorrow!

The battle-field

This peaceful scene is like many in the area that we visited last week. It is now hard to believe that it is a place in which men slaughtered one another. This field is only about 25 miles from the battle-fields of the Somme, which was almost exactly 500 years after Agincourt; andapproaching another 100 years later we still hear daily of soldiers dying in battles across the world. I am reminded of the words of the Bob Dylan song "how many wars will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died?" and Marlene Dietrich a few years earlier, "when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?"

English Archers

There is visitor centre which gives a surprisingly balanced account of the battle in (rather tacky) audiovisual display. The area of the battle-field has these archers and some French cavalry-men. I should think they must be pretty stiff after standing like that for nearly 600 years!

Another war, another memorial

The last stop on the pilgrimage trail was Azincourt, site of the battle of "Agincourt" in 1415.

Beautiful windows

The restored cathedral has a series of lovely modern stained glass windows.

Echternach Cathedral

Our Lady

Also in Echternach Cathedral, This is a copy of a statue in Luxembourg Cathedral to which miracles are attributed, and which is still visited by pilgrims.

St Willibrord

He came from Northumbria in the 7th century, and evangelised the area around Luxembourg. He founded Echternach Cathedral where this statue is, and his shrine is in the crypt. Despite the cathedral being damaged in both the Napoleonic and the Second World Wars, Willibrord's original stone coffin has survived.

Back to Luxembourg

On Saturday morning I visited the market where our friends do much of their fruit and vegetables shopping. This is one of the very pretty flower stalls.

The night before we had been to an excellent concert in the very modern concert hall. We heard the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg with violin soloist Haoxing Liang, and the new international cello star, Alban Gerhardt.

And the Lutheran Church

The Old Catholic Church

One of the Roman Catholic churches in Koblenz

Old Koblenz

Statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I

This overlooks the "German Corner" where the rivers join. It was destroyed during World War II, and only replaced in recent years.

Where rivers meet

Before leaving Koblenz, we visited the spot at which the Mosel joins the Rhine. The Mosel is on the left and the Rhine right.

Cathedral interior

Cathedral exterior

Medieval altar piece

Ancient Crucifix at Cologne

The chapel of the Magi

Cologne Cathedral

The following day, the temperature plummeted, and our companion the rain was back!

However, Cologne Cathedral, and the archeological museum, are very close to the station, so we didn't get too wet.

This fabulous gold reliquary contains the bones of two saints, and was a focus for pilgrimage in medieval times. It has depictions of various events in the life of Jesus, but is particularly noted for that of the visit of the Magi.

The best preserved castle on this part of the Rhine

Attractive hotel overlooking a landing stage

The Loreley Rock

Here sailors were said to be lured to their deaths by the singing of a mermaid.

A paddle-steamer up the Rhine

We went on trip along the Rhine from Rudesheim to Koblenz. The blistering heat had followed me from Rome, and even on the river there was very little breeze. Thank goodness for cold drinks and air conditioning! The views were beautiful, and photos don't at all do them justice.

Old Luxembourg

After the ceremony at the Crater, we drove to Luxembourg, and spent the night with our friends there, before taking the train to Germany for a couple of days.

A "small" cemetery

Some people say that the vast numbers of names on the Thiepval Monument and the Menin Gate bring home the enormity of the loss of life in the First World War. I found that there were too many to contemplate on those monuments, but this tiny cemetery up a country lane gave me much food for thought. Although it is so small, and there are many others like it, it contains over 1,000 graves. It struck me that this is roughly the population of one of our villages - wiped out in the space of a year or so.

The wars in which we are now engaged have fewer losses, partly because of different methods of fighting, and partly because more who are injured survive; yet we should still learn from earlier conflicts. As we remember with gratitude the sacrifice of those killed in many wars, right up to the present, let us pray for a time when all leaders seek alternative means to settle differences between countries.

We will remember them!

Each a young life cut short

Scattering petals

The Crater

This is the hole left by the blowing up of the German command post - the British forces dug long tunnels to place huge amounts of high explosive immediately underneath.

The red patch at the bottom are paper poppy petals. After the service, we were all given petals and asked to scatter them, remembering that each one represented a young man's life.

In France it is very unusual for remembrance events to have any religious content, because of the complete legal separation of church and state. The Friends of Lochnagar are able to have a Christian service because it is a private event on private land. The field was bought by an Englishman and turned into a memorial in 1978, so this year we were celebrating 30 years of this particular event.

It was beautifully done, both dignified and informal, and a real act of inclusion and reconciliation. There were wreaths for groups and individuals, for people killed in other First World War battles, for the animals who served in the conflict, and for some German soldiers. The Lord's Prayer was said in English, French and German. We had never heard of this place, or the service there, until our friends told us about it. They had learned of it in turn from a friend who is the translator. We felt that it is something that more people should be aware of; the crater can be visited at any time, and all are welcome at the service every 1 July. When I can get to a "proper" computer, I will put a link to their web-site

Pipe band

Apparently, most of these impressive looking Scotsmen at the Lochnagar Crater ceremony are actually French, but they dress appropriately for the occasion.

We will remember them

At 7.30am on 1 July we attended a commemoration of the event which began what we know as the Battle of the Somme. It was held on the edge of Lochnagar Crater, which is a massive hole in the ground, caused by the British blowing up the German command post. However, their belief that this and other bombardment had knocked out most of the German artillery was incorrect. When the soldiers poured over the ridge, it was into heavy machine-gun fire, and 60,000 were killed on that first day.

Ypres Cathedral

This lovely window in the reconstructed cathedral was given by the British army.

Ypres

The town was completely destroyed in the First World War, but was rebuilt a an exact replica.

My great uncle

The top name in the right-hand column - C A Foucar - was my great uncle, who is commemorated on the Menin Gate. From the date of his death, it seems likely that he was one of the casualties of the very first gas attack.

And in the morning

Yesterday we visited the Menin Gate, which commemorates another 50,000+ who also have no known grave. This includes my great uncle.

Explanatory Plaque

At the going down of the sun

This war memorial at Thiepval in northern France commemorates over 70,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who have no known graves. We visited it the evening before last, just as the sun was setting.