Verdun and westward

May 16: We ended up spending the whole day at the Verdun battlefield site. Interesting and horrifying at the same time. What is particularly maddening is how the same thing is happening right now just a couple thousand kms from here. The motivations are similar, the stupidity and futility are similar, the level of destruction is similar. I wasn’t really aware of the significance of Verdun in 1914 through 1916. Fort Douaumont was the centre of things; a massive fortress built by the French in 19thC as part of a defensive line against possible German encroachment from the Alsace. As the Germans did invade Belgium their new armaments destroyed many Belgian defenses leading the French to think Douaumont was inadequate. They therefore removed their forces from the fort leaving a tiny garrison. Retrospective history now suggests that was a horrific error costing some 100,000 French lives. The Germans virtually walked into the fort in February 1916 and used it as their command centre for the 9 month battle that ensued. The battle consisted of stalemate trench warfare along with some of the largest most effective artillery from both sides. Some 350,000 were killed on both sides. With some estimates of 1.5 million when civilian and support personnel are considered. In just 9 months! The French bombarded the fort constantly making life hell for the occupiers, and ultimately retook what was left of the fort in late October 1916

Our day started at the fort with an hour long audio tour of the sprawling underground corridors and chambers.

Next stop was the Ossuary, an Art Deco memorial building containing the bones of some 80,000 soldiers. One cannot see the actual bones, but there are two long linear chambers with the names of the 80,000. There was also a very good, evocative film, and a tower overlooking the 80,000 gravestone.

Third stop was the very modern and effective Verdun Memorial building, with displays of armaments, vehicles, soldiers clothing and equipment, and many photographs showing the horrors and the daily existence of the soldiers and townsfolk.

And back to the campsite for some quiet contemplation

May 17: The main stop today was Reims. One of the largest and most significant of Gothic cathedrals; the coronation place of King of France. Breathtaking, inside and out.

We tried a bit of a bike tour of the town but the traffic was a bit intimidating. Quite a selection of Art Deco buildings as to post WW1 reconstruction. Pat does find these automated WCs intimidating!

We’re settled in a quiet little campground near Siossons in the Aisle region. A small river, but quite a large river barge was happy with it.

May 18: First, my apologies to BC readers for the photos with sun and high 20s temperature. Wishing I could send you some!

Today was a triple serendipity day with three unexpected delights.

The first was Septmonts Donjon. This was somewhat of an afterthought, we had seen it in a brochure but it didn’t sound like all that much. With a brief drive through farm country we arrived in a quaint little quiet town and parked in the centre garden area. We still didn’t see the Donjon. It took a bit of back and forth walking to find the entrance to the garden, and there before us was an incredible and authentic 13th C tower with its partially remaining walls. It was in a quiet, serene parkland and we were the only people there. To our amazement, it was open to climb to the topmost chamber with amazing views of the town.

From Septmonts we drove 10 minutes into the centre of the city of Soissons to the Abbaye St Jean de Vigne. This 14th C abbey has really only a facade remaining, and some apparent restoration beginning. Still huge and impressive.

In the centre of Soissons we discovered a typical open air market where we grabbed some lovely olives and a half BBQ chicken for supper.

Just so you know how we discover things, I researched a campground nearest to our next planned stop, the palace of Compaigne. As we approached the campground around 1 pm, which I knew to be still 30 kms from Compaigne, Pat said “hey, this is Pierrefonds, I wanted to go there.”

Of course I was sceptical, because I hadn’t noticed it as a highlight. But I listened to her, and we discovered a huge castle in a very pretty spa town. Another real highlight.

Pierrefonds is not as authentic as it looks though. There was a 13th C castle here, but mostly destroyed over the centuries, until Napoleon III decided it would make a nice little country home. So in the 1850s he commissioned the rebuilding, using more modern materials such as iron and concrete, but authentic to the medieval design. The final decoration and furnishing were not complete when he was forced into exile in England. Still a beautiful and evocative site!