Painful yet uplifting, the most powerful way to pay tribute to the life of a First World War soldier is at this thought-provoking memorial just across the Channel.
Alongside Notre Dame de Lorette war cemetery just over an hour’s drive from Calais in Northern France, where once sprawled battlefields of barbed wire, trenches and mud, there’s a WW1 memorial and thing-of-beauty that speaks far louder than words.
Search up your WW1 namesake at this special place of commemoration
Here, in Ablain St Nazaire near Arras, stand 500 metal panels in an oval shape, like a ring of children joining hands. It’s called Anneau de la Mémoire – ‘ring of remembrance’ - and like a disembodied rollcall, alphabetically lists every one of the 579,606 soldiers who died in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments during WW1.
The ring of remembrance’s message of peace
The most poignant message here is that soldiers are not listed accordingly to their nationality but are presented as a single, integrated list. No ‘them-and-us’, just a powerful message of unity and hope that hangs in the air once toxic with shellfire.
Find your soldier’s name, run your fingers along the letters, step back until the names blur, then turn a complete 360° to see the whole installation in one contemplative sweep. It’s a sharp-intake-of-breath effect that conveys the scale of loss like no other WW1 memorial has done before.
Leave your own trace at the ‘Mémorial 14-18‘, here in Ablain st Nazaire
Write your thoughts and reflections at the on-site visitor centre and take the opportunity to search the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s records. On Armistice Day, you can even participate in a moving torch-lit procession; the collective compassion of strangers is empowering.
Hop off the ferry or tunnel and find all the rich character of Northern France right on your doorstep
Visiting the WW1 memorials can leave you wanting to grab life with both hands. If this is your first taste of France, there are some fitting ways to do just that: gastronomy, art, architecture and… UNESCO world heritage.
Loos en Gohelle for unique outdoor activities
Looking out from the Mémorial 14-18 museum, you might find yourself wondering what the twin peaks are on the horizon. They’re actually coalmining slag heaps, at the heart of the UNESCO-listed Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin - one of France’s most unique tourist attractions. The ‘terrils’ as they are known, are not just there to look at: walking up or cycling up is a local passion and unique outdoor activity, the descent by bike particularly thrilling.
Lens for the Louvre, then lunch at one of the region’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants
Did you know that there’s a Louvre museum in nearby Lens? Explore the state of the art travel-through-time galleries, then go just next-door to the on-trend Atelier Marc Meurin, one of the best Michelin-starred restaurants you’ll find in France. Boasting a locally-sourced and inventive cuisine and an über-modern, light-filled setting, this restaurant comes from the heart – Marc’s a local lad.
Arras for awe-inspiring architecture and the Wellington Quarry
There are umpteen reasons why Arras should be on your radar. For starters, there’s the exquisite picture-postcard architecture of its Flemish squares. Take it all in with a coffee or beer at one of the restaurant terraces, a chance to savour the slow pleasures of French café society in the shade of the imposing UNESCO-listed belfry. Between the two squares, Chez Marcel and Baramousse are amongst the locals’ favourite haunts.
And there’s the poignant Wellington Quarry visit, taking you underground to see where WW1 soldiers secretly tunnelled in preparation for an attack on German lines. Tear-inducing reminders of their courage are still in situ, such as the image of a soldier’s sweetheart etched on the tunnel wall.
Northern France WW1 facts
• The savage conflict that raged from July 1914 to November 1918 resulted in 1,119,264 Commonwealth war dead, including massive losses in Northern France’s Somme, Flanders and Artois areas.
• Tragically too far from their loved ones, soldiers were buried where they fell and there are thousands of WW1 cemeteries and memorials in Hauts-de-France (Northern France) alone - Etaples, Cabaret Rouge, Vimy Ridge and Thiepval to name but a few.
• Grieving families were given just 66 characters for the epitaphs on their loved ones’ headstones. The results may make for the most emotive reading of your lifetime.
• You can learn about the lives of WW1 soldiers on both sides by visiting Northern France’s flagship WW1 museum - Musée de la Grande Guerre in Péronne.
Useful Information
Tourist Board Information of Lens-Lievin
58 Rue de la Gare, 62300 Lens
Tel: +33 3 21 67 66 66
Places to visit
The ring of remembrance
D58E3, Chemin du mont de Lorette
F-62153 Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
Mémorial 14-18 museum - Notre Dame de Lorette
102 Rue Pasteur, Parking par "Chemin de Lens"
F-62153 Souchez
Tel: +33 3 21 74 83 15
Where to stay?
Louvre Lens Hotel
168, rue Paul Bert - 62300 Lens
Tel : +33 3 66 98 10 40
Hôtel de l'Univers & restaurant
3 Place de la Croix Rouge
F- 62000 Arras
Tel: +33 3 21 71 34 01
Le Château
9 Rue du Puits,
F-62580 Fresnoy-en-Gohelle
Tel: +33 6 22 19 87 25
Where to eat?
Atelier Marc Meurin
Musée du Louvre Lens
97 Rue Paul Bert
F-62300 Lens
Tel: +33 3 21 18 24 90
L'Estaminet de Lorette
TripAdvisor
Place de Notre Dame de Lorette
F- 62153 Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
Tel: +33 3 21 45 29 07
Shopping gourmand
Brasserie Saint Germain (brewery)
26 Route d'Arras
F- 62160 Aix-Noulette
Tel: +33 (0)3 21 72 24 24
« La finarde » (maturing cheese cellar)
Boulevard du Général De Gaulle – 62000 Arras
Tel: +33 3 21 73 44 21
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