2026-03-19 France: April 06 – Arras – Flemish Architecture, Tunnels and World War I

It was very quiet this morning as we headed out through town.

Our destination is the Grand Place. Almost every town in Europe seems to have some sort of Grand Place that is a meeting place for the town. Arras is known for its Flemish architecture, and the Grand Place is huge and is a huge example of this architectural style. (And it looks like there is a large parking garage directly under the plaza.

What we didn’t know until we arrived here is that the town was almost flattened during World War I and that this entire area was destroyed. After the war, the newly returning inhabitants decided to rebuild the town in its original style. So, these gorgeous, old-looking buildings are only about 100 years old. Which is very new for Europe.

From there is was a short walk to the Place des Herós …

with the Hotel de Ville (city hall) and belfry at one end. These were also fully rebuilt after the war.

Inside the main entrance to City Hall we had a fun pleasant surprise…four huge “Giants”. The tradition of these giants dates to the 1500’s with the towns identifying with the figures. They are making a comeback.

By tradition the giants are “born”, not made, are baptized, married, have children, and can be killed. The couple, Colas and Jacqueline were “killed” in World War I, reborn and then killed again in during World War II. They reborn in 1981 and had a son, Dede. The couple are market gardeners. The fourth, Bidasse, to be a bugler (don’t have his history). The tallest of these giants is 15 feet. The giants come out for special town celebrations.

We bought tickets for a tour of the Boves, caves dating from the 9^th century that were expanded, connected and used extensively during World War I. The humidity is 80% so there was green moss growing everywhere.

These caves are right under the Place des Herós. A map of the caves and the battle frontlines of World War I.

After the tour took the elevator up to (almost) the top of the belfry and then climbed the final, circular staircase to the top.

The views of the town,

the roof tops,

and the plazas were great.

Place des Herós Below

Grand Place in the Distance

We could see where the cafes had set up tables and chairs set up in the Place des Herós, getting ready for the lunch crowd.

We indulged in some hot chocolate at one of the cafés on the Place des Herós and then headed back to the hotel with a stop on the way to visit the Church of Saint John the Baptist.

At the hotel we picked up the car and headed out to visit the Wellington Tunnels.

This was part of the unground network used during World War I. Arras was only 10 miles from the front and was a staging area for Allied operations. During the week before the launch of the Battle of Arras, the caves were home of 27,000 soldiers.

The tour was very well organized and the caves and tunnels were interesting.

At various stops they would project films and photos, accompanied by music or narration, onto the cave walls. It was very affecting.

Looking up an air shaft.

There was a make-shift chapel where prayers were said before going out to battle.

They also had some exhibits of artifacts (bottles, cooking utensils, etc.) left over from the war time that were found during work in the tunnels.

One of the exits used when the attack was launched at the start of the Battle of Arras.

The tour ended in a short movie, in which we learned about the Ring of Remembrance, a centenary memorial to the War Fallen that was dedicated in 2014. So, after we finished at the Wellington Tunnels we headed out to see that as well.

And…events happened. We were wandering through the small town of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, trying to find the memorial. We were a bit lost and driving slowly down a street when we saw a police car ahead. And, they waved us over. It was a sobriety stop (today is a holiday and they must have been checking for revelers). They checked our paperwork and gave Paul a sobriety test (which he passed…he doesn’t drink). Then, they helped us with directions to the memorial. A friendly exchange.

The memorial complex consists of the Necropolis of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette,

the Notre Dame de Lorette,

the Lantern Tower (with the lantern watching over the necropolis for eternity),

and the Ring of Remembrance.

The Ring of Remembrance was especially moving and interesting. It consists of 500 three-meter-tall steel plates engraved with the names of 580,000 soldiers who fell in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France during World War I.

The names were listed alphabetically without regard to rank or nationality. The names were supplied by the various countries involved in the conflict. The first name was a Nepalese and the last was German.