Lewis war diary, August 1917-March 1919 / James Ray Lewis - Page 64
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[Page 64]
The farmhouses and outbuildings are grouped in a quadrangle all attached together with the dwelling house facing the street. All the manure from the stables is heaped up in the centre of the quadrangle. The people in this part of France do not live on their farms, but in the villages and go out and work their farms. The farms are not divide by fences, but just have a corner mark. In the villages each house has a garden attached which is ringed around by a brick wall mostly. The houses are made of brick very roughly built or wattle and daub, well plastered over, by the look of the buildings, I should say that they were all home made.
Wheat and apples seem to be the principal products of Picardie as far as I can see. I never saw any vineyards, this struck me as very strange as Vin Blanc is plentiful.
I was up early in the morning at Vignacourt, and into a French place, for a feed and I got one for a franc. They seemed very nice people, but didn't know much English, and my French was very limited, being learnt from books.
An 18 Battalion man came into the town from the line his coat all covered