Picardy and the Champagne-ardennes

Stunning riding sits alongside the memory of two world wars

IREMEMBER THE FIRST time I saw the Monument to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval. I’d seen pictures of it but somehow misunderstood the scale of it. Then I came round a corner by the Newfoundland memorial and spotted – on the horizon, several miles away – the Thiepval monument. Then I understood: it’s enormous, almost incomprehensibly vast. But of course, so is the loss of life it commemorates.

North-eastern France bore the brunt of the fighting in two world wars and there are signs everywhere – from the V2 rocket factories and gun emplacements around Calais to the Maginot Line forts in the hills of Alsace and, near every battle site, the graveyards and memorials. They exercise a sombre fascination over visitors, adding an extra dimension to any tour.

The bitterly ironic thing is, life in north-eastern France is good. This is the home of Champagne, the rolling hills and plains offering easygoing riding on gently curving roads between quaint villages. The climate is a bit more British than you get further south, but it’s a lot easier to get here. For a lifeaffirming, short biking break, you just can’t beat it.