Unexcused Absences

Sunday we drove north-east from Verdun in our rental car to see some behind-the-lines German sites from the Great War, or World War I as we call it in the US. In particular, near Spincourt, there are ruins of a large German camp that was a major staging area for troops and equipment headed to or from the Verdun battle front lines. It is difficult to locate the site, but in the woods one can still find numerous concrete buildings and storage depots, slowly being consumed by Mother Nature. This was actually the Second Battle of Verdun; the first one was in 1792, between French revolutionary forces and the Prussian army.

Remains of German WW I camp near Spincourt

From Spincourt we drove north towards the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was a set of bunkers, command and observation posts, artillery blocks and other defensive structures that were built during the 1930’s along the entire French-German border to keep the Germans from ever invading again. Unfortunately, in WW II the Germans simply invaded through Belgium, so the Maginot forts saw almost no actual fighting. Although most of the fortifications are now abandoned, several are maintained and are open for tours. We visited Fort Fermont, where a group of volunteers gives tours on Saturdays and Sundays.

The electric rail “station” deep underground at Fort Fermont

Bread oven (center) and wine storage – this IS France

The soldiers had to eat in the corridors on folding tables

Entrance to Fort Fermont

The scale of the works are stunning; while very little of the fort is visible above ground, upon entering we first took a freight elevator 30 meters straight down into bedrock, then rode a small electric train for almost a mile to one of the outer artillery blocks. From there we rode another elevator back to the surface, and explored three large artillery pieces from both inside and outside the fortifications. Back below ground, we saw the inner workings of this self-sufficient fort. The facility, which can house hundreds of soldiers for months at a time, includes areas for sleeping, cooking, food storage, air-purifying, power generation, ammunition storage, a small hospital, and a large wine cellar (this is France, after all), with everything buried 100 feet down in solid rock.

Breech end of Fermont’s artillery pieces

Outside view of the artillery block

A retractable artillery turret (foreground) and observation “cloche”

From the fort we continued north and east to Luxembourg, and spent Sunday night in a nice yet inexpensive hotel in the western suburb of Strassen. Monday we walked around Luxembourg City, explored the old city walls, and visited the Hermès boutique (your correspondent earning “husband points” in the process). The city has the second-highest per capita GDP in the world (about $80k USD) and has used its location in the center of Europe to develop into a banking and administrative center. The area is surprisingly small; one can walk completely around and through this city of 100k inhabitants in a couple hours.

Luxembourg City occupies a fortified hilltop

After lunch and a walk in the park, we drove back to France and stopped at the site of “Langer Max”, a 15-inch gun used to shell Verdun from a distance of about 35 kilometers The gun was enormous; overall length was over 100 feet, the barrel alone was 52 feet long, and the projectile stood as tall as a man. The site is still in pretty good shape, and includes the large concrete basin that supported the gun, some ammunition bunkers (and the tracks for the little train cars that moved the shells), and one of the barrels of the gun.

The barrel of “Langer Max”, a 380mm / 15 inch German WW I gun in the woods near Spincourt

Late afternoon we returned to Verdun to pick up Dad at the train station, and for dinner ate the rabbit terrine we bought from Friday’s market. I presented Dad with a belated birthday gift of a couple dozen different beers acquired from our recent car travels in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.

We greeted Dad with beer from 3 countries

Tuesday we got up early to visit the local Verdun battlefield, often called the bloodiest battle in history, where between 30 and 60 million shells fired over 300 days killed more than 230,000 soldiers (including 130,000 who were never identified) and wounded another half million. All this destruction occurred in an area of less than eight square miles. We toured Fort Douaumont (an underground WW I fort), then visited the destroyed villages of Fleury and Bezonvaux.

One of the 16,142 headstones at the French cemetery for the Battle of Verdun

Douaumont was captured by the Germans early in WW I and is now open daily to give visitors a chance to see how the troops lived before and during WW I. It is not a pretty sight, although it was of course much better than living in the front-line trenches. For starters, there were no latrines or showers (!) until near the end of the war, at which time the French installed facilities once they re-captured the fort. Also, the fort was under almost 24-hour bombardment, so getting any rest at all probably proved elusive. As there was no central heating (other than the stoves for cooking – makes one long for KP duty), the temperature inside never got above the mid 50’s. So imagine living in a chilly, damp, smelly, lice-infested environment for months at a time. Better than the alternative, I guess.

Fort Douaumont

After the fort we drove a short distance downhill to the town of Fleury-devant-Douaumont, one of the many villages qui mort pour la France (that died for France). During the battle of Verdun, it was captured and recaptured by the Germans and French sixteen times! The land was made uninhabitable to such an extent (by corpses, explosives, and poison gas) that the decision was made to not rebuild. All that is left now are a few foundations and small signs identifying where the various houses and businesses (boulanger, boucher, etc.) once stood. A few miles further north and east is the destroyed village of Bezonvaux. A nice discovery trail is laid out, with signs marking various points of interest, including wreckage of a narrow-gauge railroad built by the Germans to run supplies to the front lines.

Wreckage from a narrow-gauge military supply railroad

At noon we drove to the Moselle Valley and toured Ouvrage Maginot du Hackenberg (Fort Hackenberg of the Maginot Line). This fort is the best-kept example of a Maginot fort still in existence, and is currently maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers. The fort, like Fermont described above, was built in the mid 1930’s, and was in fact the prototype design for the rest of the Maginot defenses. Parts of the works are in immaculate condition. The four diesel engines used to generate electricity are still in working order, as are the electric trains, and an entire retractable turret that houses twin 135mm guns is shown in operation. The complexity of getting a multi-hundred-ton mechanism to rise out of the ground and fire in a 360 degree circle is mind-blowing. If you find yourself in north-east France and have any interest in either history or engineering, do yourself a favor and visit the Ouvrage Maginot du Hackenberg.

From Fort Hackenberg looking towards the Moselle River valley

Massive air filters in case of poison gas attack (Fort Hackenberg)

On the mile-long underground electric train connecting the different parts of Fort Hackenberg

Back in Verdun for the evening we enjoyed a fine dinner at L’Anna Maria, a new restaurant open less than a year, located a short walk south and west from the port. Wednesday we visited the Verdun Cathédrale, stocked provisions at LeClerc, had another delicious lunch at Le Clapier, then continued south on the canal for three hours to a nice parking spot in Ambly-sur-Meuse.

Verdun waterfront at dusk

Thursday morning we met our lockkeeper at 9am for the three hour trip to Saint-Mihiel. That afternoon walked around town and up onto the hill to the north-east, where we found remains of a hilltop château and some German fortifications. The Germans captured this town, located south of Verdun, early in the war, with the hope of using it as a base to launch an offensive that would completely cut off Verdun from re-supply. Thus this town was of enormous strategic value to both sides. The Apremont and Ailly Forests above town saw desperate fighting as each side tried to dislodge the other. Today, the remains of trench lines run unbroken for miles and miles through the woods.

The amazing 16th century sculpture by Ligier Richier in St-Mihiel

Friday morning we hired a taxi to take us to the Bois Brûlé (burning woods) about 10 kilometers outside of town. The site has a few signposts describing the battle, as well as excellent examples of German concrete-reinforced trenches and a reconstructed French front line trench. It is worth noting that in many places the French and German trenches were within several dozen meters of each other. From there we walked north and west following the trench lines and came to the Bavarian Trenches, an area maintained by troops from southern Germany, which was still an independent kingdom during WW I.

French trench line in the Apremont Forest

German trench line in the Apremont Forest

A German bunker near Ailly Forest, now ignored by a road and a farmer’s field

We continued our walk back towards St-Mihiel for several miles along the main road, then turned back into the woods to visit the Tranchée de la Soif (the trench of thirst). In May 1915 the French made a fierce attempt to break the German lines, and they succeeded, pushing all the way to the fifth line of enemy trenches. Unfortunately, the Germans were able to circle behind them and cut off reinforcements, so for three days and nights a company of the French 172nd Infantry Regiment was trapped without food or water. They eventually surrendered, and were nominally the lucky ones as this small area of Ailly Forest saw 60,000 French casualties during 1915 alone.

The “Trench of Thirst”

Friday afternoon we cruised south to Comercy, home to a terrific boulangerie and a fun local restaurant, du Fer à Cheval (the horseshoe) for dinner. We didn’t stay long, though, because we wanted to reach Toul in time to participate in Jours de Patrimoine (Heritage Day) events in the city. When we arrived we docked near our Dutch friends on Jori, and the five of us (Henk and Marjolein, me, Heather, and Dad) had a fun happy hour catching up on our travels over the past week.

A misty morning cruise

While Toul may be overshadowed by its more famous neighbor city, Nancy, Toul itself is well worth a visit. They have a vibrant pedestrian area downtown, with lots of restaurants and shops, and the late 17th century ramparts build by famous French military engineer Vauban (who else?) are almost completely intact. Saturday evening we wrapped up an eventful week with a sound-and-light show projected on the side of the Cathedral.

Sound-and-light show, Toul

France 2014 Week 11 Numbers

• Km: 88
• Locks: 31
• Hours: 17
• Cost of Moorings: 9.40

France 2014 TOTAL Numbers

• Kilometers: 1,051
• Locks: 322
• Engine Hours: 196
• Cost of Moorings: 263.60 Euros

France 2014 – Week 11 Route

A brocante (village-wide flea market)

Restaurant l’Anna Maria in Verdun

Church in St-Mihiel

Stained glass in Verdun

Another look at Ligier Richier’s sculpture

Cruising with Dad near Commercy

Corn harvest

Crypt in Verdun

French cemetery for the Second Battle of Verdun

Sunday morning we left Sedan early, so we could arrive in Mouzon for lunch and a walk-about. We  couldn’t stay long because we had to make it to Stenay for the evening. They have a nice canal port which unfortunately was a pretty full, but we found good parking out on the main canal just downstream of the lock next to a group of apple trees busily shedding their apples. The current town name comes from its Gallo-Roman name “Sathanagium,” which may explain why the image of Satan is found on the town’s coat of arms and on the front of the town hall.

A bust of the Devil on the side of the Stenay Hotel de Ville

Monday morning we strolled around town and then your intrepid correspondent took time out of his busy schedule to visit the European Beer Museum. They had the usual displays showing the old brewing equipment, but the examples of beer schwag were the most interesting; there was an entire floor of the museum devoted to posters, ash-trays, bottle openers, old bottles, labels, newspaper ads, even a Heiniken windsurfer from the 1980’s – any kind of promotional materials related to beer.

Kids love beer! Poster at the Beer Museum

That afternoon we cruised to Dun-sur-Meuse, home of the “Pershing” bridge, although it’s officially named the “5th Division” bridge. This was where General “Blackjack” Pershing crossed the Meuse River in his efforts to push back the Germans in the fall of 1918, the success of which helped lead to Germany’s capitulation about six weeks later. The town lies at the base of a hill which is dominated by a very old fortified church.

Dun-sur-Meuse and its fortified hilltop church

Tuesday morning we rode our bikes about 10km north-west to the little village of Mont-devant-Sassey, the site of a small skirmish early in WW I which featured a young Lieutenant Rommel (later Field Marshal Rommel in WW II) leading the German attack. The fighting took place on the grounds and cemetery around a gorgeous hillside church. Many of the gravestones show evidence of the battle, with numerous chips, pockmarks, and cracks caused by bullets and shell fragments.

Site of the WW I hillside skirmish with Lieutenant Rommel

Wednesday morning we purchased fuel from Meuse Nautique (a rare canal-side fuel station) in Dun-sur-Meuse, then cruised south to Consenvoye. We spent happy hour with a Dutch couple, Henk and Marjolein, onboard Jori, their beautiful 11-meter sailboat.

Meuse River scenery near Consenvoye

Thursday we continued south to Verdun. We are now in one of the two main areas of fighting during WW I; the other area is the Somme, to the north and west up closer to the English Channel near Belgium. It was in the hills and forests around the Meuse (Argonne, Verdun, Les Eparges, St-Mihiel) that the fighting chewed up close to one million lives (and injured millions more) over a three-year period.

The river port in Verdun

Friday morning I took an early train to Metz, rented a car, then drove back to Verdun in time to stock up at the weekly market. That afternoon we used the car to visit a series of WW I sites. First stop was the Ouvrage de la Falouse, a small WW I fort located just south of Verdun. We then drove west to Butte de Vauquois, the destroyed village of Montfaucon d’Argonne, and the American Cemetery at Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, where by chance we met the head of the American Battle Monuments Commission in France.

WW I era pop-up gun turret (foreground) and armored spotting port at the Falouse fort.

The Butte de Vauquois is (actually, was) a flat-topped hill in the shape of a half-kilometer long oval running roughly east-west, which was home to a pretty little village up until 1914. The Germans decided to fortify the north side of the hilltop as it was a strategic location overlooking the valley and surrounding countryside. The French didn’t want them to advance any farther south, so they built defensive trenches on the south side of the hill, in places within 80 feet of the German trenches. Both sides then set about excavating networks of tunnels under each other’s trenches, so they could surprise their enemy with strategically placed underground explosions.

View from the German front-line trenches at Butte de Vauquois

This they did with such vigor that the entire top of the hill was blown to dust. What used to be a flat hilltop is now a rugged, crater-pocked moonscape. And while there were many villages destroyed in France during WW I, the town of Vauquois was simply erased. The official tally of mines detonated is 199 by the Germans and 320 by the French, including a single massive explosion of 60 tons of dynamite, set by the Germans, that carved a crater over 300 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep. Entire companies of men on both sides simply disappeared. It was so nerve-wracking for anyone to sleep, with the constant threat of being blown sky-high at any moment, that the two commanders eventually agreed to only blow each other up in the late afternoon. The craters are all still very apparent, but are so enormous that they are difficult to photograph except from the air. Needless to say, it is a sobering place to visit. A private historian maintains a good description of the operations at Vauquois here.

Butte de Vauquois village not long before WW I

Vauquois hilltop today – all that’s left of the village after three years of mine warfare are the enormous craters

After Vauquois we drove a few miles north to the destroyed village of Montfaucon, where remains of the church and a few walls and doorways of houses are visible in the woods. The site is also home to a large monument recognizing the contribution of the American First Army whose entry into the war in the summer of 1918 pushed the Germans back and ultimately led to the armistice later that fall. Two-hundred forty steps lead to the top of the main monument, and a few dozen more lead to a roof-top viewing platform.

Remains of the church in Montfaucon

We finished the day at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest US cemetery in Europe. It was late in the day, and as we approached the chapel a nicely-dressed man was locking up for the day. He said “bonjour,” and I replied “bonjour, or perhaps good afternoon?” He laughed and said to come on in, he was happy to stay open for a while longer for fellow Americans. Turned out he was the head of the American Battle Monuments Commission in France, a part of the US government Executive Branch that builds and maintains military monuments and cemeteries around the globe. He gave us a nice history of American military efforts in the area, and showed us on a map where the 29th division had fought when he found out we were from Virginia.

The Meuse-Argonne American WW I Cemetery

At 14,246 headstones, the cemetery is fifty percent larger than the more famous WW II American Cemetery in Normandy. The site was finished and dedicated in the mid 1930’s, and surprisingly was not molested in any way by the Nazi occupation during WW II. America’s contribution to ending WW I was really its first major participation in world affairs, and this cemetery and memorial are a sobering look at the human cost of that participation.

German trench line in the woods above St Mihiel

Saturday, we drove south to visit the trenches around Saint-Mihiel, another area of intense fighting. The Germans, in hoping to encircle and destroy Verdun, had created a salient, or pocket, of occupation that included Saint-Mihiel and the surrounding hills and woods. Because the front lines of both sides were mostly in the forest (as opposed to open fields where the trenches were quickly smoothed over at the end of the war by farming activities), the trenches of both the Germans and French lines are still clearly visible. The small sites of Bois Brûlé (burning woods) and Tranchées des Bavarois (Bavarian Trenches) are maintained with signs and placards, but the trenches run for miles and miles through the thick forest, and are still quite visible through the underbrush. And quite literally everywhere you look you see craters from the almost continuous mortar and artillery fire from about 100 years ago.

A German field hospital behind the front lines near St Mihiel

On our way back to Verdun we stopped at the destroyed hilltop of Les Eparges. This was, like Vauquois, a flat-topped hill seen as a strategic site by both sides. And as described above, the flat hilltop has been replaced by giant craters caused by the two sides’ mining efforts. The only difference here is that the hilltop was not originally a village. The most heartbreaking thing about this site was a plaque containing the diary entry of one of the French officers during the fighting. To paraphrase, he said, “We took this hill at the cost of 10,000 French lives. And when we reached the top and looked into the distance, all we saw was hill after hill after hill. Will it cost 10,000 French lives for each of these hills?”

Re-constructed French front line trenches at Bois Brule

After we returned to Verdun we again had happy hour with Henk and Marjolein onboard Jori. Although they’ve owned the boat for 12 years, this is their first year cruising the canals of France. In the mid 2000’s they spent three years sailing the same boat completely around the world. Happy hour turned into dinner and we spend a terrific evening swapping stories about our adventures. Our favorite was the story about how they were “accidentally” married (too long to get into here, but it’s a good one!)

View from the canal port at Verdun

Next week my Dad arrives, and we will have the car for another few days so we intend to visit more battlefield sites of both World Wars. We also plan to take a side trip to Luxembourg, just because we can.

France 2014 Week 10 Numbers

• Km: 96
• Locks: 18
• Hours: 16
• Cost of Moorings: 8.00

France 2014 TOTAL Numbers

• Kilometers: 963
• Locks: 291
• Engine Hours: 179
• Cost of Moorings: 254.20 Euros

France 2014 – Week 10 Route

Free apples in Stenay

Grilling duck breast on deck

Rare commercial traffic on the southern Meuse

Old-style beer tap system

Old-style beer advertising poster

A new king enjoying a pint after his coronation in Reims

Celebrating the religion of barley, yeast, hops, and water

An English-language school

The map showing new US city locations; New York is now a suburb of Boston, DC and Pittsburg have moved west, and Spokane has been renamed Reno

Cows taking a day at the beach

The “Bavarian” trenches in the Apremont Forest

Too much realism at the Falouse Fort museum

Church at Mont-devant-Sassey

A chipped headstone from the battle of Mont-devant-Sassey

An old doorway in the destroyed village of Montfaucon

An American headstone

French front lines at Butte de Vauquois

The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

Proudly displaying the village’s sister-city

For two countries who fought two major wars in the last century and three wars within one hundred years, the French and the Germans display remarkably little hostility to one another today. We’ve noticed many German tourists here in France, and the French seem to treat them with courtesy, just as they do all other tourists. Even in towns once destroyed and occupied by Germans, the French don’t seem to harbor any special animosity toward Germans. I’ve asked French acquaintances if there are lingering feelings of hatred, and the answer is no. A lot of effort has gone into creating this good will over the years.

After the Second World War tore Europe apart less than 25 years after the First World War did the same, a populist movement began to repair the emotional wounds and to allay the hatred and resentment from the Wars, seeking to heal rather than to punish. The mayor of Montbéliard (where we visited last summer), a French resistance fighter who had been taken to Buchenwald concentration camp as a prisoner of war, pioneered the modern concept of sister cities. He worked to pair his city with Ludwigsburg, Germany. In French, this relationship is known as jumelage. 

French and German flags fly over the port of Le Chesne — A city twice overrun by German troops in the 20th century.

Jumelage with multiple, international cities

Jumelage encompasses cultural and educational events, business relationships and even childhood pen pals. In 1963, these social and cultural pairings were formalized by French President Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, with the signing of the Elysée Treaty. According to rumor, Konrad Adenauer turned to Charles de Gaulle at the formal signing ceremony and said, “Never again.”

There are now over 2,500 French/German sister cities as well as thousands of other sister-city pairs between EU communities. At our friend Marianne’s invitation, we attended Dijon’s celebration of jumelage with the German city of Mainz during our first week here in France. Her long-time German friends, Albert and Manuela, teachers from Mainz, have been coming to Dijon regularly for nearly 20 years. Thanks to jumelage, the two families fostered long-term bonds of friendship across borders.

Now, Europe functions as a cohesive economic unit rather than a location where tribes of white people continually fight each other — thanks in part to the simple yet powerful concept of jumelage and people who worked so hard to forgive and move forward.

Sunday morning we slept late (the “music” from Saturday night’s disco party in Le Chesne lasted until 3:16am), picked up some delicious bread and pastries, then continued north and east along the Canal des Ardennes.

When we arrived in La Cassine a couple hours later we had to double up, as we were the eighth boat on a four-boat quai. We learned that our timing was one day off; the night before, while we were enjoying the all-night “music” less than 30 meters from the stage (until 3:16am, not that I was counting), there was a big spectacle animation (hard to translate) at the local ruined château. The show told the story of the surrounding area from back before the dark ages up until modern times, when the château was destroyed during WW II.

“Bleachers on rails” at La Cassine

But leave it to the French to come up with a twist; instead of the audience sitting still and using stage hands to change the scenery, the scenery was spread out in a long line and the entire bleacher, with seats for close to 1000 people, moved about a kilometer – sideways – through the grounds of the château, along a set of rails. From what I can gather they built this setup years ago and now every summer they put on this show two times a week. And the last show of the season was the previous evening, while we were in Le Chesne, having their “music” forced upon us. Until 3:16am. But I’m not bitter.

Monday morning we awoke to a bit of rural excitement; a small herd of cows had escaped from their pasture overnight (remember, the grass is greener…) and one of them, exercising her new freedom, had decided to take a swim. In the canal. Now, cows are surprisingly adept swimmers, but the vertical sides of the canal make it almost impossible for them to get back on land. This one paddled around for a bit, and made several attempts to extricate herself, but to no avail. More locals arrived, and more boaters got out to watch, everyone shaking hands. And at this point I need to explain a bit about the French custom of shaking hands.

Mischievous cows

Any time there is a gathering, especially one, it seems, that is work-related, everyone stops what they are doing and shakes hands with everyone else. So as an example, the second person arrives and shakes hands with the first. Then a third person arrives, and shakes hands with the other two. A fourth person arrives, and everyone stops what they are doing to shake hands. This morning, even the farmer, quite anxious to get his expensive cow back on land, stopped to shake hands with each new arrival.

This custom is manageable when there is a small group of 3-5 workers. But once you have too many workers, you begin to forget who you’ve shaken hands with, and so you shake hands all around. I calculate that if there are more than 75 workers in a group, for instance on the floor of an office building, the time needed for everyone to shake hands will conveniently occupy the period between 9am and noon (because of the network effect), at which time of course everyone will need to break for their two-hour lunch. Fortunately, once you have shaken hands for the day it appears you can all get down to work, so I suspect that afternoons are particularly productive throughout France (although woe be it if a worker missed a morning, say for a doctor’s appointment, and showed up in the afternoon, and triggered a fresh round of hand shaking).

But back to the cow in the water. Eventually the farmer was able to coax her to the other side of the canal, which had a shallower bank, and everybody lived happily ever after, although not without a bit more excitement as the cow, now safely back on land, ran off to find her herd. A bit more comedy ensued as the cow jogged around the port, alternatively admiring the boats, eating grass, moo-ing for her lost herd, and being chased by the farmer’s friends. All this, and it wasn’t even 10am Monday morning.

Canal port at Pont-a-Bar

Monday afternoon we arrived at the northern end of the Canal des Ardennes where it meets the Meuse River at Pont-a-Bar. Our friends Marie-Helene and Christian, who live near Paris and cruise during the summer on their boat Wisdom, were heading back towards their home port from Denmark (!). Christian cooked a delicious meal, we supplied several wines from our “cellar”, and we all had a wonderful evening. We first met them on a rainy day on the Canal de Briare back in the autumn of 2011. They also came to visit us by car when we were stuck in Clamecy last spring due to the flooding. It was very nice to see them again, and to see them enjoying their gorgeous boat.

Dinner with Marie-Helene and Christian onboard “Wisdom”

Tuesday morning locked down into the Meuse River, then turned east (upstream) and cruised to Sedan. Along the way we saw several bunkers from the Maginot Line, a set of fortifications that run from the Swiss border all the way to the Ardennes that were supposed to keep the Germans at bay. Unfortunately it was a 19th century solution to a 20th century problem, and during WW II the Nazis simply drove through Belgium and the “impenetrable” Ardennes forests to capture France. But many bunkers live on, most of them slowly crumbling in fields or pastures.

Château de Sedan

That afternoon our friends Todd and Ted (the Minister of Leisure) arrived in Sedan to spend a week with us on the boat. We immediately set out to explore the town, which claims to have the largest fortified medieval castle in Europe (350,000 square feet). Sedan has the somewhat dubious distinction of being the key to the German takeover of France in WW II. As noted above, the invaders looped around the north-west end of the Maginot Line. Once they won the Second Battle of Sedan* in the spring of 1940, they were inside the Maginot Line, and had a clear shot to Paris. The victory also enabled them to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium.

Birds of prey demonstration

Wednesday morning we stocked up on fruit and vegetables at the Sedan street market. That afternoon we toured the Sedan castle, which also included an exhibition of live birds of prey. That night we found a Spanish restaurant that was decorated in black and purple. The food was delicious, and the owner and his wife were a bit wacky. They love all things Gothic, so the décor consisted of mostly skulls, fancy hand weapons, and fake spider webs. But they were lovely hosts, and we had a fun time – they even showed us a photo album of all their various Halloween costumes over the years.

Ted with one of the many skulls at La Cantina del Conquistadors

Thursday we turned around and cruised downstream about four hours to Charleville-Méziers, the capital of the Ardennes département. The city has a nice new port off the main river, with dozens of slips, modern electric and water connections, and a beautiful Captainerie building. However, the port is mostly empty because no one involved in the construction bothered to consult the boating community. If they had, they would have discovered that their footbridge over the entrance to the port is too low for most canal boats, so everyone just parks their boats out on the river. Note to the designers: it’s called “research.”

Main square in Charleville-Méziers

Friday we had an amazing crêpe lunch in Charleville, then continued downstream (north) to Bogny-sur-Meuse. The mooring quai is adjacent to a house with quite a backyard ménagerie. We counted close to a dozen chickens, a rooster, about six geese, a goat, and a very old sheep that allowed one of the chickens to roost on his back. Unfortunately, when I went to take a photo, the sheep thought he was about to be fed, and ambled over to the fence. All the jostling caused the chicken to loose her footing and fall off, so I can offer no photographic proof – just trust me.

The Meuse River above Bogny-sur-Meuse

We finished the week Saturday by continuing north to Revin, a medium-sized town deep in the Meuse River valley. Todd and Ted have a rental car, so Ted and I cycled 23km back to Bogny to retrieve it (the previous days we retrieved the car by train). It was a lovely day for a bike ride, with a high of 62 degrees F (it is mid-summer in France, after all). Saturday evening we ran some loads of laundry at the nicely equipped port office, and we ate a nice dinner in town. It’s great to host T&T on our boat, as Ted is very generous in making sure we are well fed, both with cheese for the fridge and lovely restaurant lunches and dinners. Plus, they are a lot of fun to be around.

A lock on the Meuse River

Next week we’ll put the rental car to good use by spending a couple nights in Belgium.

———-

* The First Battle of Sedan was in September 2, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, where emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner along with his army. This major victory led to the unification of Germany, and until the end of WW I the Germans celebrated September 2 as a national holiday.

France 2014 Week 7 Numbers

• Km: 112
• Locks: 23
• Hours: 17
• Cost of Moorings: 38.15

France 2014 TOTAL Numbers

• Kilometers: 681
• Locks: 234
• Engine Hours: 129
• Cost of Moorings: 161.65

France 2014 – Week 7 route

A fantastic bowsprit

Sedan skyline

The ruined chateau in La Cassine

Canal port in Charleville-Méziers; where are all the boats? The new footbridge is too low.

The Meuse River

A lonely house on the Meuse

Monthermé

Sunday morning in Reims we visited the Basilique Saint-Remi, named after the bishop who started the trend of French kings being coronated in Reims by baptizing Clovis in 496 AD. That afternoon we took the Cathédrale Notre-Dame roof tour, which was possibly the best way we’ve ever spent 7.50 Euros (other than maybe on a wheel of Epoisses cheese). After climbing the 249 spiral steps we reached a balcony between the north and south towers. Today this area contains several 15-foot-tall, 8-ton statues of various kings and bishops. When you have too many statues to display at ground level, I guess.

Basilique Saint-Remi

The Reims Cathedral suffered numerous times throughout its 800+ year history. The most egregious damage began when it was hit by shellfire on Sept 19, 1914, during the Great War. This set the wood roof on fire, which melted the lead casing and damaged the stonework. Over the next four years the building was hit by more than 300 shells from the German army occupying the forts on the outskirts of the city. The only thing keeping the structure upright during this assault was the outstanding design and assembly work from the early 13th century.

Cathédrale de Reims

The most amazing thing about the roof tour, not so ironically, was the roof. During the cathedral’s reconstruction during the mid 20th century, which was funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the original wood trusses were replaced with 1200 tons of ribs made with reinforced concrete. The ribs in turn support 400 tons of lead cladding. The tour follows a walkway right down the transept, in between the concrete ribs above and the top of the cathedral’s vaults below. No other “roof tour” we’ve ever taken gives you this inside look at the construction techniques.

Roof tour – in between the vaulted ceiling and the roof

The cathedral also had a photo exhibit from the time around the Great War when both Reims and the cathedral were bombed and burned. Some sobering numbers; at the start of the war Reims had 13,806 houses, yet by Armistice a little over four years later, 8,625 had been completely destroyed, 5164 were badly damaged, and only 17 remained unscathed.

Reims Cathedral after WW I

Reims the town predates Roman times; a tribe called the Remi based their capital on the site of the current city. During Julius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul in the mid ’50’s BC, the tribe allied itself with the Romans and came to be favored by the imperial power. Later, Reims became a favorite target of invaders. Over the centuries, the town has been sacked by the Vandals in 406 AD and Attila the Hun in 451 (you’re nobody unless you’ve been sacked by the Huns), was briefly ceded to the English in 1420, brought back into the French realm by Joan of Arc in 1429, taken by Henri IV in 1590, anti-Napoleonic armies in 1814, the Prussians/Germans in 1871, the Germans again in 1914 and the Germans one final time during WW II. Ultimately Reims was the place where, at 2:41am on May 7, 1945, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the German army’s unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe. But everybody is friends now; Reims is “twinned” with the German city of Aachen, famous as the place of coronation for German kings.

Roman-era Mars Gate

Monday we topped off the bread supplies with two delicious baguettes tradition from 114 Rue Gambetta in Reims. We then cruised about five hours to the junction where the Canal de l’Aisne à la Marne meets the Canal latéral à l’Aisne at Berry-au-Bac. On the way we were waiting at a lock for a boat coming the other direction, and as the doors opened we saw that it was an English-style “wide” narrowboat (?) named Renaissance. Just as I remarked to Heather that we know that boat, a head popped out the helm station and said “Hey, Yank!” We first met them three years ago in Joigny, on the Yonne River, and have crossed paths a few times since, but always going in opposite directions. So we don’t actually know each other’s names. But each time we see them we always get a hearty “Hey, Yank!” from the captain.

A young Danish family on a 3-month canal trip – by catamaran kayak

Tuesday we passed through the final lock of the Aisne-Marne canal, then turned right (east) and followed the Aisne RIver to Asfeld, which is home to the wackiest church in France. Because this area suffered so much destruction during both world wars, many (most) of the churches have been built during the past century, in some cases in very, um, imaginative styles. This one takes the cake, although amazingly it was built in the late 17th century and actually survived both wars completely intact. From the air it resembles a viola, supposedly so that prayers ascending to heaven might be accompanied by music (this from the history plaque).

The non-standard 17th century church in Asfeld

When the Count of Avaux needed a to rebuild the church in his stronghold of Ecry, he hired a Dominican monk and architect named François Romain, famous for designing the Pont Royal bridge in Paris. He constructed the building entirely of curved bricks, and it houses the congregation in a five-sided rotunda. There is not a single straight line in the church. All shapes, both horizontal and vertical, are beautiful curves. Each brick was fabricated as either concave or convex. It is completely, and utterly, unique.

Inside is more like a Las Vegas wedding chapel

Wednesday the Canal de l’Aisne became the Canal des Ardennes (in name only; there was no indication other than in the guidebook that we had changed canals), and we continued upstream to Rethel, a large town in the south-west Ardennes département. We found a terrific restaurant called Au Sanglier Des Ardennes (roughly, “wild boar of the Ardennes”), and ate an amazing meal that included the local specialty sausage called boudin blanc. The following morning was our first street market since Chalons-en-Champagne several weeks ago, and we took full advantage, loading up on fresh vegetables, fruit (the peaches have been amazing this season), and some boudin blanc to try cooking ourselves.

Rethel town hall

The church in Rethel has had quite a history, and has taken an inordinate amount of abuse and rebuilding over the centuries. It originally dates from the 12th century, and has been restored in bits and pieces using whatever style was in vogue at the time. The west gate has square doors in the 13th century design, but the south gate is from the 16th century and reflects the architecture of that era. Then in the 17th century the bell tower was demolished, and rebuilt in 17th century style. During the French revolution the building was damaged and converted into stables. Then during WW II both the church and the town around it were destroyed by fire, and its roof collapsed during the winter of 1940-41. Amazingly, the only time the church wasn’t damaged was during WW I, when most of the surrounding countryside was completely devastated. And on top of all this, the church boasts two complete (and parallel) choirs and naves.

Twin choirs in the Saint-Nicolas church, Rethel

After the market Thursday we moved east to Attigny, where we found our first decent bread in 3 days (the two best boulangerie in Rethel were both closed for summer vacation, and neither Asfeld nor Berry-au-Bac had good ones). The shade trees lining the quai were beautiful but unnecessary, because for the past few days the temperature has not risen above 70 degrees F. Ah, mid-summer in France. A fuel station and small supermarket near the port were very useful, because east of here the Canal des Ardennes passes through several days of extremely rural countryside.

A rare navigational decision on the canals; we took the lock on the left

Friday we continued east and began our ascent up a 27-lock staircase towards the summit of the Canal des Ardennes. We stopped part way up the flight, at Neuville-Day, a gorgeous spot at the foot of a village between locks 19 and 20. The surrounding countryside was very scenic, but any shops in the village (including the restaurant adjacent to the lock) closed years ago and probably a third of the houses were for sale.

Village of Neuville-Day, Canal des Ardennes

Saturday morning we cycled back a few km to Semuy, home to an obscure but amazing WW II museum. A lock keeper became interested in the war about 40 years ago, when he was 12 years old, and began amassing guns, bullets, grenades, mortars, radios, uniforms – basically anything related to the battles of May/June 1940 that raged in the countryside here. He set up an astounding display in a huge barn on his father’s property, and now he and his father give tours of the museum to history buffs during the summer. No kidding, he must have had 10,000 items on display.

One small corner of the vast barn full of WW II artifacts

That afternoon we finished climbing the staircase, and parked at Le Chesne, a small village in the middle of its annual summer carnival. The streets and squares around the canal were packed with carnival rides, junk-food vendors (now we know that “cotton candy” in French is “barbe à papa,” or “dad’s beard”), and a portable “disco” stage complete with flashing lights and multiple disco balls. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately), the music was not actually disco but tended more towards the club/house/euro-techno. The only drawback is that the “music” continued until 3am. They had turned the amps up to eleven. And did I mention the stage was right next to the boat? But that’s ok, it was all part of this week’s fun in rural north-east France.

France 2014 Week 6 Numbers

• Km: 102
• Locks: 48
• Hours: 22
• Cost of Moorings: 5.0

France 2014 TOTAL Numbers

• Kilometers: 569
• Locks: 211
• Engine Hours: 112
• Cost of Moorings: 123.50

France 2014 – Week 6 route

Basilique Saint-Remi

Overflow statue storage – Reims Cathedral roof between the North and South towers

Western slope of the Canal des Ardennes

Inside the Reims Cathedral

View from the Cathedral roof

Stained glass depicting the wine-making process

Hotel de Ville, Reims

Church covered in shrapnel damage, WW II

Hand grenades from WW II

Reims Cathedral roof