Verdun is a frightening place to this day. It was M1's first sight of the vast areas of cratering caused by the shelling. Although now overgrown, the scale of the destruction and loss of life is unimaginable. In the period from February to December 1916, the French forces lost over 400,000 soldiers, the Germans some 300,000. Most were just obliterated by the relentless shelling, The main and lasting tribute to the French is the large and imposing Ossuary set prominently at Douaumont. Fronted by the graves of some 15,000 named dead, the ossuary houses the bones of 130,000 unnamed soldiers. There was a moving film shown near the main entrance hall about the life of a French soldier at Verdun then visitors moved quietly and reflectively into the nave-like upper hall where there were moving photographs of survivors of both sides then and and in later life as well as the inscribed names of the known dead. Above this nave and chapel, there is a 150ft tower from which the whole area could be seen. Everybody who visits or goes there in the future would wonder and despair at the stupidity of the war.
After this visit, we needed a coffee and some quiet time both of which were fortunately available nearby in the only permitted cafe/restaurant, Following this, and on bikes, we were able to visit other key places such as the memorial to Albert Maginot who master minded the Maginot Line of defences - ironically at the same time (1932) as the finishing touches were being put to the Ossuary monument which people hoped would mark reason over warlike tendencies and ambitions. There were sobering parts of the area which had been whole villages which were reduced to muddy, desolate craters and rubble (Fleury, Forges, Malancourt) where there were simple stones telling the visitor where the baker, the plumber, the church had been. We also visited the Trench of the Bayonets, paid tribute to the Wounded Lion statue which marked the furthest advance of the German Army to Verdun itself and generally took in the atmosphere. We left with a huge but sadly hopeless respect for the soldiers who gave their all and for those who had dignified their contribution so sympatheticallty and well.
By early afternoon we had had enough and jumped in the van and moved north into Luxembourg to a town called La Rochette. Luxembourg is well kept with smooth roads, orderly houses all well painted in a narrow range of slightly intense V&A colours and gently undulating countryside. The family of McD's chum from Prestbury, Peter Van Der Feltz, had once owned the Chateau at la Rochette so it was fun to find it, admire it, take photos but not to pay the entrance fee to go in!
There was a campsite nearby but this proved to be quite unacceptable to grumpy old men like us - full of families and kids having fun in the pool and elsewhere. It was a Eurocamp site - remember those? But no thanks this time around so we reversed and found another (Auf Kengert) just a few miles further away which was well organised but quieter and with a well run restaurant which we used to our pleasure later.
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