Calais to Senonches

And still it rained, in triplicate! Dark and very wet as we left Callias but we left with a very different impression of the town to the one we gained on the way. Lots of nice looking restaurants and the best meal we have ever had in France. Thank you Calais.
Our first destination for the day was the little village of Harponville on the Somme. My great Uncle, my mothers uncle, Crp. William Taylor was killed there in the final months of WW1. It was a moving experience for both of us. Despite never having known great Uncle William it really brought home the loss of a generation of young men, who stepped forward to when called to arms. It also left us wondering at the futility of war.
The British war graves commission is responsible for the care of the graves and the Harponville cementery is a credit to their work. As we drove through the Somme  many fields had had there autumn ploughing giving an eerie reminder of the mud covered battlefields and heightening, for us, an echo of the horror of the historic events that touched our family as it did so many others.

 The cemetery at Harponville

The River Seine near Vernon

We head of towards Senonches in thoughtful mood stopping for lunch by the side of the river Seine. A busy river for for work and leisure with huge barges, they often carry a car for use ashore, and fishermen drifting in the rain. The countryside was quiet as we took the more scenic route, the only people around seemed to be "La Chase" in pursuit of their supper.