Albert

King Lear invited me, my father, my goddaughter, the lovely Sophia, and a couple of friends on a tour of the battlefields of the Somme. We were staying in Albert, whose basilica is shown in these photos, as it is now and as it was in early 1915 when the golden Virgin Mary was knocked asunder in the War. KL was an excellent guide and it was very moving to see those corners of French fields which are forever England or Canada or South Africa. All credit to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for keeping the memorials in such good condition and to Lutyens for his beautiful designs.

We revived our spirits with a tour of Veuve Clicquot's cellars in Rheims. Madame Clicquot was widowed aged 27 in 1805 and made a great success of her husband's champagne business, selling thousands of bottles to the Russian Tsar. The cellars are 30m deep and 23km long. Her love for champagne was certainly not detrimental to her health as she lived until she was 89. Sante!