Cultural gem North France

I’ve cycled to this place from Le Touquet on my folding bike (which stored nicely in the luggage compartment of my light aircraft) but didn’t know it’s significance then…

We went on holiday near there with friends in 2005 and went to a Les Miserables Spectacular.

Naively we thought it would be based on the musical! Imagine our surprise when it was 3 hours of locals forming tableau in and around the castle. Not a song in sight! The kids all fell asleep - our friends still rip us for recommending it.

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Have you seen the size of the book :rofl:

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Also the HQ of a man much derided in the days of “Oh! What a Lovely War!” but now better understood, as a man and a commander - not least because of the difficulty of commanding the BEF in the face of constant hostility from Lloyd George.

As Monty said, in an address to troops assembled for D-Day. "Right you are, you men. Some of you are going to be killed. It is my job to ensure that as few of you are killed as possible.

Talk about learning curves.

Would have been nicer to have said ‘some of us are going to be killed’. No doubt a skilled commander but I remember his tv memoirs of many years ago and got the impression that it was all I, I, I.

Not a fan of militarism and useless wars (ie those that do not directly threaten the nation and its people), who is the bloke on the horse. Haig?

It is indeed Haig.

Monty was, by all accounts, a dreadful individual. I,I,I, is about right. The people who had to work directly with him had a very difficut time but the soldiery revered him because he got in amongst them and told them the truth.

His comment in that address was prompted by his abhorance of what he considered to be a terrible waste of men’s lives in WW1. As a senior commander in WW2 he did make great efforts to keep the casualty rate down whilst achieving the objective of an action.

My father, for a time the Team Captain of The White Helmets, the motorcycle display team of The Royal Corps of Signals, was offered a drink by teetotaller Monty, after the White Helmets performance at The Royal Tournament.

“Well done. Jolly good show. Tell the chaps I said so”. To Monty, Monty having said so, there could be no higher praise.