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	Dear Australian Friends,

You are planning to visit our region, the Somme. It is the name of a river but also one of the 101 mainland and overseas departments (administrative sub-divisions or counties) of France. Amiens is its capital, with 139,929 inhabitants (170,605 in the urban area). It is the seat of

As in every department, the initial official body to be contacted by the tourists and visitors is the Somme Tourist Board (Comité du Tourisme de La Somme), 21 rue Ernest Cauvin, Amiens (phone : + 33 (0)3 22 71 22 71 - fax : + 33 (0)3 22 71 22 69 - accueil@somme-tourisme.com - http://www.office-de-tourisme.org/tourisme/france/picardie-nord/somme/somme.htm It is open Mondays to Fridays from 9.00 am to 12.30 pm and from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm (4.30 pm the Friday) and they speak English.

To reach the Somme from Paris, the simplest and most practical routes are :

	- The Al, toll motorway entering from the "Porte de la Chapelle" from the north circular road ("Boulevard périphérique") around the City. Exit at Roye for direct access to Villers-Bretonneux or Amiens, or at Assevillers for access to Péronne, or at Bapaume to reach Pozières (follow the signs to Albert) or Bullecourt (follow the signs to Douai). Paris-RoyeAmiens = 150 km; Paris-Assevillers-Villers-Bretonneux = 140 km.

	- Trains from the "Gare du Nord" to Amiens or Longueau (shuttles operate from Longueau to Amiens). There are a few daily trains from Amiens to Villers-Bretonneux. (Note : check timetables, they change seasonally). Important : in the departure station, do not forge to validate your ticket by mean of the orange machine situated in the station itself or at the entrance of each platform.

- TGV from Roissy to Lille or Bruxelles, stop at "Haute Picardie Station" where buses will drive you to Amiens and where you will find taxis for any other place.

	- In each railway station in Paris, there is an information kiosk (generally near by the railway embankments) where someone speaks English.


You can hire a car in the chief cities of the department : Amiens, Albert, Péronne, etc... (ring the Somme Tourist Board).

HERE ARE THE PRINCIPAL SITES COMMEMORATING AUSTRALIA'S PRESENCE IN THE SOMME

- In Amiens cathedral, plaques to the memory of the Allies troops, particularly the plaque to the Australian Imperial Forces of the First World War rededicated in July 1998 and flags in the chapel "Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur".

- At Villers-Bretonneux (coming from Amiens), sister town of Melbourne, twined in 1984 with Robinvale (Vic.)
	* Adelaide Cemetery, head stone of the Australian Unknowed Soldier, here exhumed in November 1993 (Plot n°3 - row n°M, headstone n°13 close to the brickyard) and now laying in the chapel of Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
	* National Memorial for the First World War and also the Memorial for the 11 000 Australian missing in France (names engraved on the walls). Signs in the village

	* Civilian Memorial at town square.
	* Plaque "Bastiaan" in the town garden.

- At Corbie (Sainte-Colette hill) : the crash-site of von Richthofen, the famous "Red Baron" (RD1, Bray-sur-Somme road : information panel, 3 other panels at Fricourt, Cappy and Bertangles).

- At Le Hamel, Australian Corps Memorial Park, recently inaugurated ; remains of German trenches with panorama and information panels describing the event, toilets. From sign n°1 (Villers-Bretonneux museum), you can follow an itinerary explaining the battle of Le Hamel (23 km - around 2 hours). A leaflet and an audio-tape are available at the VillersBretonneux museum, Bastiaan plaque close to the church.

- Near Sailly-le-Sec : memorial to the 3^rdDivision, along the RD1 road.

- At Herleville : a tablet to the colonel Daily and the 6th Battalion, unveiled by the late Torr Brain of the 6^thBattalion - close to the civilian memorial.

- At Vermandovillers : a small tablet in the school-town hall, in memory of Lieut. Mc Carthy, 16^th Battalion A.I.F.

- At Dernancourt : the narre of the school is "Pavillon Adelaide" because of financial contribution of the reconstruction of the village. A suburb of Adelaide bears the name of Dernancourt.

- At Albert : located in underground passages adapted between the two World War by the famous pioneer of the aeronautical industry Henri Potez, mayor of Albert, the "Somme 1916" Museum presents realistic reconstructions of military life.


- At Pozières : at famous and bloody Australian involvement July-August in the allied battle of the Somme in 1916. First Australian Division Memorial, site of "Gibraltar" (offers a view of the battlefield from its observation tower ; surviving entrance of a redoubt) and "Windmill" Memorial (few relics). Pozières is also the name of a township in Queensland founded after the war.

- "Mouquet farm" where, exhausted, the Australians were relived by the Canadians at the beginning of September. Plaque along the road to Thiepval (RD 73).

- At Mont-Saint-Quentin, now a suburb of Péronne : Memorial to the 2nd AIF Division (along the RN 17 Bapaume-Péronne road, called there "Avenue des Australiens"), which took a large part in the capture of Péronne, 2^ndof September 1918.

- At Péronne, also cleared by the Australians in September 1918. Australia is featured in the "Historial de la Grande Guerre", a big and modem museum of compared international history, sponsored by the Conseil Général of the Somme, visited each year by more and more Australians (for further information, call the +33 (0)3 22 83 14 18 ). Plaque "Bastiaan" in the entry of old castle. Each day, at 12.00 am and 6.00 pin, the peul of the belfry of the town-hall rings the famous French song, "La Madelon".

Each year, two dates should be noted
* The nearest Saturday from 25^th of April, two commemoration ceremonies in the presence of the Australian Ambassador in France (for further information, contact Australian Embassy in Paris)
- at Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, in the morning, Anzac-day ceremony.
- at Bullecourt, in the afternoon, in memory of the baffles of April-May 1917 ;
* On 1st of July, at Thiepval British Memorial and at Canadian (Newfoundland) Memorial (Beaumont- Hamel), in the morning, ceremony of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme of 1916.

BEYOND THE SOMME DEPARTMENT, THERE ARE ALSO AUSTRALIAN MEMORABILIA

	In several departments in the north of FRANCE

- In Aisne (close to main road saint-Quentin/Cambrai), at Bellenglise, monument to the 4th Division ; at Bellicourt, tunnel of Saint-Quentin Canal (no monument, only the site itself). Plaque Bastiaan.

- In the Pas-de-Calais, at Bullecourt, two small monuments, the Memorial park and plaque Bastiaan ; at Arras, a monument to the airmen in the "Route d'Amiens British cemetery" (name of Robin Cuttle) and at Fromelles, cemetery "V.C. corner" and new Memorial park.

- In the Nord, at Vieux-Berquin, plaque honouring the 7th Batallion on the wall of the mairie;

	In BELGIUM (Flanders)

- At Zonnebeke, at "Polygon Wood" : monument to the 5th Division, plaque Bastiaan ; at Ypres (= Ieper), at "Menin Gate", names of the missing in Belgium. The "Last Post" is sounded every evening at 8.00 pin.

Shops are generally open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, usually from 9 am to 12 am and from 2 pm to 7 pm. Some, specially groceries, are also open on Mondays ; supermarkets are open all week, all day until 9 pm or 10 pm. All are closed on Sundays. Nearly all banks keep open during normal hours Tuesdays to Saturdays.

If you wish to telephone, you may do so from a post office ("La Poste", closed Saturdays afternoon and Sundays) or from any of the numerous public phones operated with telephone cards which may be purchased either at post offices or at cafés selling tobacco wares (look for the characteristic red cigar-shaped sign which identifies these). The telephone cards are most practical if you phone abroad since the cost is automatically debited wherever you place the call.

The police is on call around the clock (dial 17 from Amiens). Outside of Amiens, contact the local "Gendarmerie Nationale".

Here there are a few other useful addresses

Australian Embassy : 4, rue Jean Rey (métro Bir-Hakeim) - 75015 Paris - Tel. : +33 (0)1 40 59 33 00 - Fax : +33 (0)1 40 59 33 10 - Information.Paris@dfat.gov.au

France-Australia Association : offices in the Embassy. Local chapter in the Somme Jean-Pierre Thierry, OAM President of the Franco-Australian Association - 23 rue Driot - 80800 Villers-Bretonneux - Tel. : +33 (0)3 22 48 18 49.

Paris Tourist Office : 25 rue des Pyramides 75001 PARIS - Tel: +33(0)1 08 92 68 3000 Metro: Pyramides info@paris-touristoffice.com - www.parisinfo.com

Commonwealth War Graves Commission : 7, rue Angèle Richard - 62217 Beaurains - Arras - Tel. : +33(0)3 21 21 77 00 - Fax : +33 (0)3 21 21 77 10.

Franco-Australian Association of Villers-Bretonneux : Mairie de VillersBretonneux - mairie@villers-bretonneux.com Tel. : +33 (0)3 22 96 31 00.

Australian National Memorial : route de Villers-Bretonneux - 80800 Fouilloy - no office, no phone - signs in the village.

Franco-Australian Museum : école Victoria - rue Victoria - 80800 VillersBretonneux - Tel./fax : +33 (0)3 22 96 80 79 - museeaustralien@neuf.fr. Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning except the 1st and 3rd Sunday each month.

We are expecting you. Do not hesitate to contact us. Yours very sincerely.

$Index picture toutisme_australien_2003_Dir\toutisme_australien_2003_Page1.htm$	$Index picture toutisme_australien_2003_Dir\toutisme_australien_2003_Page1.htm$
Jean-Pierre THIERRY, OAM	Côme VERMERSCH
Chairman of the France-Australia Association of Villers-Bretonneux	Director of the Somme Tourist Board