Arras, France to Mons, Belgium

Having checked out of the Hotel in Arras we found a coffee shop and a boulangeri (?) where we got breakfast. I'm hanging out for an endless mug of TEA, I may have to wait until we get to Karen & Williams. That said coffee back in Melbourne will never taste as good as in France. They know how to do coffee. From there we went to the 'The Wellington Quarry' which had been recommended by a number of people in Arras. These chalk / limestone caves had been in use for many decades around the Arras area, and were quarried for their stone, used to make the local buildings. During WW1 the New Zealanders spent a year digging them out further for an assult by 20,000 men on the german lines. The entrances were dug to within meters of the german lines and packed with explosives. Then at 5am on the day, 20,000 men exited via 20 or so exits to suprise the germans. These men had spent the previous 8 days underground. The logistics of this effort over the year would have been huge. Unfortunatly as was so often the case in WW1 the 'generals' made a number of bad decisions and the result was not as effective as expected, the germans were able to bring up reenforcements the following day. Had the guys been allowed to carry on the difference would have been massive. Oh, and these 20,000 men were a diversion, for a major push elsewhere. Thats a lrge number of men to comitt to a 'diversion'. The visit is one I'd recommend to any one in the area. In fact the pre WW1 history and the WW2 history of this town is equally impressive. Yes, Arras is one place I would visit again.
We then drove to Mons in Belgium. Mons is a place I have heard of many times in the military, and so had great expectations. I'm disappointed. I really did expect there to be much more information relating to both world wars, but there is very little. Not just in Mons, but the whle way along the journey so far. I'm not sure if after the wars people just wanted to forget and move on, or if the political environment did not support the historical aspects. Maybe in the rebuilding period the materials were too valuable to preserve and needed to be put to better use.
Mons is a very picturesque town. The main square is surrounded with Cafes and resturants where we have spent much of our time. A little like France many of the shops are closed. We did find some free internet and even managed to Skype session with Olivia's parents. With Millie we were not that successful. I think havng a WiFi link at both ends may have been part of the problem. Certainly ours was very weak.
This afternoon we went for a little drive and ended up The Grand Hornu, originally a colliery, not the Museum for Contemporary Art. It tries to combine it's history of the industrial era, with modern art and even more modern technology. An interesting combination. Given I don't 'get' art I feel that it's focus is more on the art side than it's historical significance. The history consists of a self guided walk with and audio guide, where as the art seemed pervasive with all kinds of arty folf available to help you out. I had a look at one exhibition, where by you trace and initial photo, 20 times, each tracing being a tracing of the one before, then you thow away the first 19, and give the 20th one a name. You then repeat that, using the same original photo. You stop after 8 hours (signifying the length of the indusrtial day), and more the resulting set of traces. I'm sorry,but I don't 'get it'.
pcd