Back into France

18th August Stayed in a carpark in Verdun, No services next to the old town walls, free. 49.157902, 5.37845

Another early start and we drove out of Arlon on a very quiet Sunday morning. Our destination was Verdun but we had our first stop in Longwy, France. We do love France, it’s very easy to negotiate, also the food, wine, cakes and general relaxed feel. We do eat and drink too much but we also do a lot of walking, anyway that’s what we tell ourselves. You only live once, might as well enjoy it.

Longwy

Nineteen years ago we stopped in as part of our trip to Europe with our kids. We were travelling with my cousins Martin and Ewout and had spent some time in Belgium. We all thought that it would be nice to go to France and the closest town was Longwy. Back then France still had the franc (before the euro). We were in France with none of their money and it happened to be a day off for the town, so nothing was open. To cut a long story short we didn’t stay long and ended up going to Luxemburg for a very late lunch. This time we just stopped and strolled around the fortress walls and into the top village square.

Longwy, France
p1090200 1501780035
Part of the defensive walls at Longwy.
p1090201 11668441618
Earlier this gate had a drawbridge as well as a moat.
p1090206 1785903455
Sunday morning queue to get bread at the bakery.
p1090207 12092427412
The round building was the water well and the old church in the background.
p1090204 11156788320
Colourful umbrellas. Sunday morning and no one to be seen.
p1090210 1678293298
More of the fortifications.
p1090211 11430877375
Tom Tom sent us down this very small country road. Luckily no other traffic. Were were soon on a normal road.

Verdun

We have visited most of the battle field sites of France but Verdun for some reason was never on any route we travelled. Before we went to the town we visited the site of the battlefield. After the war the entire site was replanted and is now a forest. Over 80,000 remains are still in the ground making it a memorial site. As you walk through the craters from the bombs and the old trenches can still be seen. A village called Fleury-devant-Douaumont was completely destroyed and only plaques are placed where the buildings once stood.

55100 Verdun, France
p10902151749077498
Gun emplacement in the forest.
p10902191929020261
Verdun museum, trucks and other vehicles.
p1090220251835123
Hand grenades. Plenty of ways to kill your fellow man, crazy.
p1090223811681534
Bi-planes
p10902251231434524
This place was once a village. All that remains is a bit of rubble. Trees have planted and a few plaques show where the buildings used to be.

There is a memorial and a museum which we spent a few hours in. Very well done and told the story of the battle without demonizing the Germans, giving the prospective from both sides. After some lunch we drove to the Douaumont Ossuary where the bones of 130,000 soldiers are kept. Out the front is also a large cemetery. The battle of Verdun lasted 300 days the longest battle in WW1.

p1090226 11735068939
The Ossuary (A place where bones are stored) Here are the remains of 130,000 soldiers.

p1090229886562918

Our spot for the night was a free carpark next to the old walls of the town. It was drizzling down but we still went for a stroll into the town. It was a Sunday and only a couple of bars and cafes were open, the rain keeping most people away. Another busy day and we had an early night. Off to Luneville in the morning.

p10902361275572064
Old gates to the town of Verdun.
p10902321558163873
Our overnight place at the base of the old city wall.
PDF 📄

Leave a Reply