World War I Sights of Verdun and Reims

Day 29 (Friday, September 25, 2009)

After waking up extremely early at 6:30, I began the long three hour drive to Verdun in order to visit the WWI sights. Although many visitors to France make their way to Normandy, far less people take the time to visit Verdun. The battlefields in this area of France saw the loss of 800,000 lives during the war that lasted from 1914-1918.

Upon arrival in Verdun, my first stop was at a museum called Memorial-Musee de Fleury. This museum was built atop the a village called Fleury which was destroyed during World War I. It is a good first stop for those touring the World War I battlefields as it provides a thorough introduction to the war. The entrance fee was 7 Euro, which I thought was a little steep. The museum was filled to the brim (literally) with a massive group of high school students, so it made it almost impossible for me to enjoy any of the displays or exhibits. There were lots of English descriptions, but between the students and having a lack of time, I didn't have the opportunity to get too in-depth with anything. I do recommend making time to watch the 15 minute movie that plays continuously as it has amazing footage from World War I which so many of us are unfamiliar with.

Exterior of Memorial-Musee de Fleury.

Exterior of Memorial-Musee de Fleury.

Recreated World War I battlefield scene at the Memorial-Musee de Fleury.

Next, I drove over to L'Ossuaire de Douaumont which is a tomb that holds the remains of 130,000 French and German soldiers. The tomb is adjacent to a massive cemetery, which contains 15,000 graves of soldiers. Unfortunately, I arrived just prior to the two hour lunch time closure, so I was unable to go inside the tomb nor watch the recommended 20 minute video. I found the cemetery itself to be very beautiful with a small rosebush planted in front of each soldiers grave but it did not appear as though the graves themselves were well taken care of which was disappointing, especially when compared to the cemeteries in Normandy. The reality though it that there are probably very few surviving family members or spouses of those that were killed in WWI, so it probably does not get the same level of attention it once did.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

The cemetery at L'Ossuaire de Douaumont.

Afterwards, I drove just a short distance to Fort de Douaumont, which was one fort in a series of forts that were used to protect the city of Verdun after Alsace and Lorraine which annexed to Germany in 1871. Much of the bunker and the surrounding landscape was destroyed by the bombs of WWI. There were massive craters and holes in what was once a nearly flat landscape.

Fort de Douaumont

Fort de Douaumont

Massive craters at Fort de Douaumont.

Massive craters at Fort de Douaumont.

Massive craters at Fort de Douaumont.

Massive craters at Fort de Douaumont.

Fort de Douaumont.

Fort de Douaumont.

On the drive out of Verdun, I stopped briefly to look at the trench lines from WWI. I was shocked at how narrow and intact they were. I could not imagine having to spend hours upon hours stuck inside those tiny trench lines.

Trench lines of WWI in Verdun.

Trench lines of WWI in Verdun.

Trench lines of WWI in Verdun.

Trench lines of WWI in Verdun.

Trench lines of WWI in Verdun.

Afterwards, I quickly drove to Reims where I had planned to drop off the rental car, spend a few hours exploring the town, and then eventually take the train into Paris. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized that the drop-off time for the car was actually 14:00 instead of 14:30 as I had originally thought. Had I dropped the car off any later than 14:00, I would have been charged an additional day's rental fee, which I obviously wanted to avoid at all costs. Due to my miscalculation of time, I arrived late to the rental car office. Thankfully, the office didn’t say anything, so I assumed everything was okay even though I was seven minutes late. I was so embarrassed to talk to the rental agent because the car was absolutely filthy inside and out from my month long trip. I apologized to the man, who looked at me strangely when I said I was sorry about the mess. After completing the check out process, the office was nice enough to allow me to store my bags there for a few hours, since the train station didn’t have a luggage check

My initial impressions of Reims were quite good and better than I had originally expected. It was a wonderful larger sized town with extremely clean streets; I literally didn’t see a speck of garbage anywhere which was truly impressive for a city of its size. Apparently, only 70 buildings survived the bombings of WWI so massive reconstruction occurred during the Art Deco age. Many of the buildings had recently been cleaned and were in impeccable condition. I saw several late 18th/early 19the century buildings, so that combined with the beautiful Art Deco buildings placed me in architecture heaven! Reims is famous for two things; its plethora of champagne cellars and its gothic cathedral. It makes a great day-trip from Paris as there are 12 daily TGV trains linking the two cities in an hour and 45 minutes.

Typical architecture in Reims.

Beautiful house in Reims.

Reims

Reims

Reims

Reims

Reims

Reims

Reims

After walking around the city for a bit, I eventually made my way over to the Reims Cathedral. This gorgeous church was built back in 1211 and is a wonderful example of Gothic architecture. During my visit the cathedral was undergoing a massive cleaning and restoration program, so it was partially covered in scaffolding. The interior of the church was nothing too impressive, but I did enjoy the extremely beautiful stained glass, specifically the rose window which was placed in the church in 1255.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Beautiful stained glass inside of Reims Cathedral.

Beautiful stained glass inside of Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Interior of Reims Cathedral.

Beautiful stained glass inside of Reims Cathedral.

Beautiful stained glass inside of Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

Reims Cathedral.

After touring the cathedral, I walked to the nearby Carnegie Library, which is a beautiful Art Deco building that houses the city's public library. The entrance hall was extremely interesting to look at, but it would have been nicer to have been able to walk into the main rooms (visitors are asked to refrain from entering the reading room.

Carnegie Library.

Carnegie Library.

The final thing on my to-do list in Reims was to visit one of the many Champagne caves. I ended up selecting to join a tour at Mumm. Although I had joined an English tour, I noticed that a small Japanese tour group was added at the last minute. Because of this tour group, the initial introduction video was played in Japanese, but thankfully the rest of the tour was in English so I wasn't too disappointed. After having gone on the tour, I gained a new respect for the tour guides who have to translate; it looked immensely difficult for the Japanese tour guide to translate the Mumm's tour guides not so perfect English into Japanese while trying to field questions from her tour group.

At the very end of the tour, the guide took us into the tasting room, where everyone was able to sample two types of their Champagne, which were both very sweet and delicious. Unfortunately, I did not have any room in my luggage to purchase any bottles to take home with me.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Mumm Champagne Cave Tour.

Enjoying my bottle of bubbly inside the Mumm tasting room.

Afterwards, I walked back to car rental office to pick-up my luggage and then walked over to the train station. I ate some dinner and then boarded my train to Paris. Unfortunately, I had to ride backwards on the train, but I didn't care too much as the train was in great condition and I was headed to my favorite place in the world, Paris!