Day Two. Saint Dizier

Quite a long days driving. The original route plan was less than 4 hours but we did not want to rush so keyed No motorway and No tolls. The new route was closer to six hours but no problem.
The Satnav was wonderful, taking us down little lanes and through isolated French village's and never lost us once. We were surprised that there were virtually no people about and for the first couple of hours we saw more cyclists than cars . It was only after we found a supermarket and it's petrol station were closed that we checked and found out it was a bank holiday (whoops for shopping)
This blip is from one of the many War Grave Cemeteries we passed on the journey. Our drive took us along many of the battle lines of the First World War. This cemetery was small compared to some and still contains over 2000 souls. As well as British dead there were many Irish and Canadian, lots of them not out of their teens. Such somber places, even more depressing when you see the self same type of war happening now in Ukraine. 
Apart from the lack of people and the abundance of cyclists other things I have noticed are:-
Total lack of hedges, the vista is open as far as the eye can see, different crops planted with nothing to define the end of each field.
Swarms of wind turbines. The landscape is cut by river vallies, the crest's of each having numerous turbines turning away. I don't mind these , it's the lines of pylons that look so ugly.
Every where was closed 
Why was it that we followed the Route Champagne for a long time and did not see one vineyard. Lots of potatoes and cereal fields but no vines.
The total lack of pot holes in the roads, no matter how minor there were . Not used to this back home.
Finally and to me the most amusing is the SatNavs French accent, she doesn't have one. One of the standout instructions was to turn down the Rue Dec Alice. (leading to a major Channel port maybe)
Tonight we are staying in a real chateau, wonderful high ceilings and many quirky ornaments. We are the only guests tonight and Pascale,the owner, chatted to us for an hour or so telling us about it's history.
I am typing this in the chateau gardens as the sun goes down  Soon be bed time