Tuesday, 22 July, 2008. Week 5 of LeapFrog Voyage.
The LeapFrog Voyage team- one month in after the Insider Tour de France….some testing moments, and some great life changing moments. From Left Kiwi Benji, Frog Max, Kiwi Mark, Frog Antoine.
Leaving the city of love Paris behind us, we sped north on the TGV to Lille in the last fast train we’ll have unless one in India comes unstuck on a hill. No surprises here; we jump off the train to meet up with some of the boys friends and head directly to a local typical restaurant. As we were getting closer to Belgium and London we saw a definite change. Thick beers rather than poncy wines, and real men’s tucka. My ‘poor man’s’ casserole was back to basics, but Mark had a chicken breast swimming in a smelly cheese sauce. Oh please god- no more cheese!!! Only a few days to go…
The beautifully ornate rows of buildings in the middle of Lille, northern France.
With that much cheese Mark needed a sleep, so it was the next day before we went for a little drive into the countryside. Nodding off in the back of the car, we were woken by French cries of “Belgium!’ and lifted our heads just in time to see the small road sign. No wonder the Germans found it so easy. They had obviously not touched the roads since the war either because we actually stopped the car thinking there was something wrong, only to see the road resembled a minefield.
Mark and I were a little worried what we’d catch driving into the small Belgian town of Leper, only to be corrected that was the Flemish spelling. It’s Ypres.
Ypres Cathedral virtually destroyed to rubble during the First World War now stands proudly rebuilt.
This beautiful little town was completely flattened by the First World War as 100 million people fought over a couple of kilometres. We were here to see NZ’s little link with the town- a million miles away from home- 1905 original All Blacks captain Dave Gallagher’s grave. The Frogs were a little taken aback that these little Kiwi’s came all this way to fight and die in the worst war ever ‘for the empire’. Seeing these pristine white-cross-filled cemeteries standing all alone in beautiful rolling Belgian countryside didn’t really convey the horrific events that took place here not so long ago. But Dave Gallagher’s own story conveyed the misery in a defining moment for NZ history.
After becoming one of the great All Black captains, then a successful rugby selector, he decided to go to war at the age of 43. Motivated by the death of his two brothers, he was first engaged in Ypres, before leading his men over the top in Passchendale on October 3, 1917. Early in the morning a piece of shrapnel smashed through his helmet and he died shortly after, 26 days before his 44th birthday. But this story is far from unique, and the true brutality of this war was displayed as headstone after headstone featured the very same date.
Nine Elms Cemetery in Belgium, close to Ypres, where former All Black captain Dave Gallagher is buried at the age of 43, having been killed in 1917 during WW1.
Feeling quite humbled by this experience, we went into Ypres for a typical Belgian meal- beer and chips, and a lump of mayonnaise. Ahh, we were getting closer to England!
The next day we were heading to London, and although keen to get back to our roots, we felt we had become just slightly French. We had bitten our tongues eating lunch at 4pm, we had gorged ourselves on meals completely consisting of cheese and wine, we’d learnt to buy the smelliest and gooiest cheeses, we’d started to become indifferent to French organisation, and we’d drunk their local alcohols that burnt a hole directly to our stomachs. A small sacrifice to pay for an incredible experience in an incredible country. Au revoir froggies. And merci beaucoup, or is that merci beau cul??? (Thank you very much vs Thank you Nice Arse)….. I can never remember.
Finally a massive thank-you to all of the froggies we met along the way, who took us in, fed us, and made us feel at home. It is you who have made this experience truly special. We are forever in your debt…. So you better come to NZ! Merci infiniment!
So that’s week 5 of Leapfrog in France. Next updates will include our return to the English speaking world in London, and our first real foreign country for all of us- Bulgaria!
