Another very hot day, already in the high twenties as we have breakfast. We service Hymer, our water is less than 25% requires a jeton to fill (which are available to purchase for €3 at the shop across the road). Mr C. says we will fill with water at the next site so just put a couple of watering cans in … a decision we regret! We drive through Grenay noting the old coal mine winding gear, railway marshalling yards and obvious heavy industrial past. All gone now, leaving the present-day run down town, a shadow of its former self. We take the D58 to Lievin and on to Lens, a fairly large town with plenty of facilities. From Lens N17 to Arras, and D917/D929 to the village of Pozieres in Picardie.

The whole area north of the river Somme was the site of the fiercest and most prolonged fighting in the trenches in WWI. Pozieres together with Thiepval (memorial to the missing 72,337 soldiers never found), Beaumont-Hamel, Warlencourt, Lochnagar crater and many more cemeteries scattered across this whole area are dedicated to the thousands (hundreds of thousands) killed and especially those soldiers who have no known graves.

Those without known graves includes Cyril Maurice Garbutt (1897-1918), the younger brother of Gill’s grandfather. We spend some little while within the white perimeter wall of Pozieres cemetery, contemplating the dead and remembering Cyril Maurice, the namesake of Gill’s uncle Cyril Maurice Garbutt, her mother’s youngest sibling. He didn’t die here on this spot nor is his body here, it has no known grave and his spirit is certainly not here, hopefully it was freed at his death from the horrors of that war.

Photos from The British Military Cemetery at Pozières

click any image to enlarge

We have lunch in the heat of the day and drive south towards Bray sur Somme where we hope to stay at Camping de Mon Village (described as an Aire) with pitches overlooking the river. When we arrive it is deserted, not a person or office or reception to be seen. We discover it is booking online only. Mr C. spends about 20 minutes trying to book online (very poor website that will not accept a UK phone number… essential to confirm your booking by text!). It also transpires that it is not €16/night as advertised on the Camping-Carpark website and Camping-Carpark mobile phone app but €50/night which includes compulsory membership (of an organisation called Camping-Carpark) plus compulsory insurance plus the cost of the Camping-Carpark pass!!

We do not stay and move east along the loops (boucle) of the river Somme to Camping Municipal Bray sur Somme. Agghhhh…. another Camping-Carpark site. We slowly get it… they are called ‘Aires’ and advertised as Aires, but they are a private campsite called Camping-Carpark, to be avoided at all costs!

It is now midafternoon; we still do not have anywhere to stay and low water in the tank. We review our notes from earlier and Mr C. suggests we try the very small Aire along the Somme canal near Cléry sur Somme. If there are no spaces we are no worse off. We take D1 towards Péronne, just past Herbécourt and after passing over E19 we take the first left, a metalled but narrow farm track for about 2km, turning left towards Sormont brings you to Écluse No.7 se Sormont. There on the left, tucked under the trees is a row of four motorhomes with space for another!

We are delighted but seeing a car parked in the dedicated motor home spaces we thought (foolishly) that the car would move as the owner was getting his child’s bike out of the boot. He ignores us. A Dutch couple suggests he moves as these are dedicated motorhome spaces. He ignores them. They try to reason with him, explaining that the spaces are only for motorhomes and there is plenty of spaces for cars on the other side. He is a most obnoxious man, brusquely telling the Dutch couple (very rudely) that he was not moving. His wife tried to reason with him, saying it was no trouble to move, he pushed her off and shouted at her too. He gave his child the bike and helmet and strode off up the canal path.

We (his audience of five motorhomes) must have sat open-mouthed and just looked! His wife apologies to us and said to wait as they would not be long…she was right. In the meantime, a rather grubby old French man cycles over the canal bridge and makes a beeline for us (only the beret and the onions were missing). He stops to tell us (in English) that we can’t park here, he motions to the main canal cycle path. We know this and point out the car and try to explain (in English and French), he probably doesn’t understand as the Dutch couple try also to help us out. We say we will park on the grass verge for now, he seems happy and takes his ‘self-appointed’ marshal-self away and disappears from whence he came!

About half an hour later the child came cycling back along the canal path followed by his parents! The obnoxious driver obviously thought he was invisible as he collected the child, bike and helmet and bundled them all in the car, ignoring his wife and apparently everyone watching him. Once in the car when he thought he really was invisible he began to smirk and make what were clearly derogatory comments about us to his wife (she just looked embarrassed).

I stood by the side of the road and just watched this interchange noting his vicious grin with some distant bemusement (perhaps like a psychiatrist might watch the behaviours of a mad patient). He was clearly very, very pleased with himself which his smug facial leer portrayed all too clearly. Then he saw me looking at him and… uh-oh I did for a moment think he was going to jump out and punch me. Then the thought crossed my mind that if he did I had about ten witnesses to this incident, so I stood my ground and just looked. He stopped, wound down his window and yelled something very abusive at me (the words were French but the meaning was very clear).

When I didn’t answer (because in truth I had no idea what he had said) he yelled it all again… hesitated and then drove off! The silence that followed was palpable! How bizarre as, in actuality I hadn’t done nothing, literally nothing. I hadn’t even spoken a word (because I don’t speak French). In that moment we made a lot of friends, the motorhome next to us moved their stuff and the dog up so we had some sitting space and we all breathed out a collective sigh of relief. What was there to do or say after such an incident… except open a bottle of wine. After the event, I was quite shaken by the whole incident but the calming words of Mr C, our neighbours and the environment all helped to dissipate the angst and remind us all that there are obnoxious people in every country and every walk of life.