July 4: Verdun

It seemed appropriate to do a post about Verdun on the 11th November. The Armistice day in contrast to the one of most bloodiest battles in history. And one of the longest, if not the longest. And it is also the place for the German and French reconciliation.

Part 1: history and the sites

Before going to the battle, lets visit some places, that should be of peace and reconciliation.

One famous one-of-the-kind landmark in Verdun is the Saint-Amand sluice bridge.

It does not look anything fancy but it is the genius engineering that is impressive (too bad this part is not seen).

"SAINT-AMAND SLUICE BRIDGE. The sluice bridge in Saint-Amand is clever piece of military engineering which is part of a whole system designed to cause defensive flooding of the area upstream from Verdun. Based on a project designed by Vauban, work on the bridge began in 1680 under the control of a royal engineer named Peirault and was completed in 1685. The first trial floods were instigated in the presence of Louis XIV in 1687. Wooden beams activated by winches slide along grooves in the piles of the bridge.

This is thought to be the only such bridge in France to have retained its operating shed intact."

Another landmark - Notre Damme cathedral of Verdun - one of the oldest (dates 990) cathedrals in Europe. As most of the buildings, it underwent renovation and changes, so the original Romano-Rhenish style might not be as noticeable but the building plan (one nave, two transepts, two opposing apses both flanked by two belltowers) was preserved to a certain degree as additional sections were built later. During the Renaissance the cathedral underwent major renovation. It was during that time that it got stained  glass windows and frescos.

By the time the cathedral opened up more people showed up in the streets. I did spend an hour just sitting there next to cars and waiting for the doors to be unlocked. But it was worth it. The famous French stained glass... There is no words to describe it. Painterly, detailed. It captures you and you cannot take your eyes of it. Most of the times it even does not matter what is the glass depicting - the execution, presentation is enough.

Some of the stained windows. The cathedral suffered a lot of damage in a fire set up by a lightning in 1755 and in the Great War, so these are not the originals. Made by Jean-Jacques Gruber

During the repairs after the lightning, the church got its beautiful Rococo baldacchino (the Solomonic columns and the decorations have a lot of similarities with Bernini's baldacchino in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican).

The cathedral has 19 bells of which 16 can ring together and it said to be the most developed sound in France. Seven of the bells can be heard in this video.

During the Great War the cathedral had suffered again as it got hit by the artillery. As the repairs went on, an old Saint-Vincent crypt was discovered. Built in 1130s by Garin, it is the best preserved part of the Romanesque style. G. Le Bourgeois was responsible for restoring the capitals of the pillars of the crypt. He used them to pay a tribute to the battle of Verdun depicting scenes from the war (solders, cannons, trucks of the Sacred Way, etc).

(There is a possibility to attend free guided tours in the summer months. Appointment is in front of the entrance porch of the cathedral or you can also try contacting them trough here).

                       

Right next to the cathedral (or, more exactly, "attached to her by the hip") is the Episcopal Palace. The (re)construction of the palace started  in XVIII by Robert de Cotte and finished by his son. The palace was nationalized after the Revolution and served as sub-prefecture and the court until 1823. The municipal museum of the city was established in the palace in May 1914. And it hosted a temporary hospital and also served as a cantonment for combat troops during the Battle of Verdun. It was a target of German artillery and suffered a considerate damage from it.

It took 15 years to repair the palace so that bishops can return to their residence. In 1993 Monseigneur Herriot left the palace to allow the World Peace Centre establishment. It was the initiative between both Germans and French. Due to the special meaning of Verdun in both French and European memory, no better place for reconciliation could be chosen. The Book of Peace was created and with it, Verdun could proclaim itself "the Capital of Peace". There is a permanent exhibition "From war to peace" in the centre. Currently there is an exhibition "What is left of the Great War?" which is a part of centenary events. It is open for visitors each day and will be on display until November 11th, 2018 (more information).

The inner yard of the palace and the towers of the cathedral

"The hopscotch. This piece has been designed in 2006 by Stephane Lallemand to commemorate the Battle of Verdun 90th anniversary.

It depicts a giant hopscotch in iron plates. The piece comprises extracts from the correspondence between french and german soldiers with their families.

For the artist, its form is quite similar to the Cross of Lorraine, and typography could remind these which adorns the war memorials. However this hopscoth, due to the extracts nature, the paving shape and its play-oriented nature, is a monument to life.

This piece that stresses the importance of maintaining peace."

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I read that "memorials are thank-yous", probably one of the most famous one in the city of Verdun is the Victory Monument. On a 30 metres high pyramid-like tower stands a big Warrior leaning on his sword. The sculpture was made by a survivor of the Battle of Verdun (Jean Boucher - lieutenant of infantry awarded the Military Cross. He also created monuments dedicated Saints-Cyriens, marshal Joseph Gallieni, the American volunteers, aviator Eduardo Le Mounier and some others). One must take 73 steps to get to a crypt, which shelters names of solders awarded the medal of Verdun.

The Victory Monument (there should be a cascading fountain running through the red granite stairs in the middle)

 

The Warrior overlooks the battlefields to the east. Unfortunately, I could not get a shot from the middle because of the sun

Two cannons "guard" the monument from both sides (the cannons travelled from Russians to Germans when French eventually recaptured them) (scale - 170 cm)

The monuments is built in a place where the collegiate church of Magdaleine once stood. What was left of it, needed to give way for the monument, which now also serves as a link between upper and lower Verdun.

Plate on one side of the Warrior. There are one on each side

At the entrance into the monument

This monument is open for visit from 1st of April till 11th November. On the 1st November Eternal Flame of Memories is carried from Triumphal Arch in Paris to Verdun by members of the committee of the "Voie Sacree" and the "Voie de la Liberte". The flame first visits the "Monument aux Morts" and then is placed in the crypt of the Monument of the Victory. After the Armistice day (November 11th) the flame travels back to Paris.

_____

And now - to the battlefield.

Verdun. By no means will I grasp everything that happened through all those 10 months (303 days) of fighting. One could write six PhD thesis and there still would be a lot of material, people, decisions, strategies left to analyse and tell about. I just want to shed some light, to show the direction towards the battle and hope to awaken some interest that would eventually lead to a mode deeper personal look. And also, Verdun battlefield was so wide (120 000 hectares area was affected; 17 000 hectares of it is no-go for public today) that one could spend months just driving by car trying to visit all the places, so there are many sites I did not see (and that is another reason to come back there).

Right upper corner is a map of the battle of Verdun area. Right lower - some of the most important points of closer to the town of Verdun

Verdun has zones of all colours: red (the no-no zone for public), yellow and blue (repopulated but still dangerous). Cleaning all the munitions from the area is estimated to take 300 - 700 years (with removal rate about 900 tones per year (some sources say much lower numbers). Consumption of water was banned in 544 municipalities due to the high levels of percholate (maybe that is why most of the people I asked for water, gave water from the bottle).

Verdun is one of three iconic battlefields in France (Somme and Chemin de Dames being the other two). I believe that if France would have to be described as a body, then Paris would be the brain and Verdun - the heart. And if one wants to take down someone, one needs to decapitate or rip out the heart...

When Schlieffen plan failed and decapitation was not going as planned and both parties got stuck with a knife in between their throats. So ripping the heart out seemed as a good idea. But, as its Latin name suggest ("Verodunum" - strong fort), with 20 large (Fort Douaumont being the king of them. Or the queen, if you are a chess player) and 40 small forts, Verdun was a high mountain to climb for the Germans (you can find more info about the fortifications and their development here). All of the forts were built to mutually support one another (i.e. were able to fire and defend one another in case of an attack). But by 1916, Verdun defence system is nothing more than an empty shell - many of the fire power had been relocated to help at Gallipoli in the previous year. Only armoured turrets were left (in those forts which had them) and only few and inexperienced men were staying in the forts. But this was not the advantage German wanted exploit. Verdun had several rail-lines that could be used for a quick supply of artillery and delivery of the troops to the frontline  (the railway station at Verdun bears several memorial inscriptions). It was also close to Saint Mihiel salient and that meant that German guns could be easily used at Verdun offensive.

For the attack, German assembled about 150 000 infantry men (note: some sources write 66 000, others - 550 000, and some name 1 000 000. The number of French - about 250 000), 1 225 artillery pieces (again, some sources say there was 1 400 guns) behind the front to do the "bleeding white" of France. 1 300 munitions trains were used to move all this battle power together with 2 500 000 shells. And all this was done without the Allied forces knowing anything... French general Joffre was sure that Verdun is untouchable. Until he got the news about the gathered German air forces (168 planes and many observation balloons - the highest air force ever used in war by that time) and men at Verdun; the information he got from a German prisoner.

E.G.A. von Falkenhayn calculated that for every 2 dead Germans, they would get 5 French. And this equation was in favour for the attack. And this math was enough justification for the attack. It was a part of German plan to end the war by 1917. It was "a battle the likes of which the World has never seen". And will not see long after...

_ _

The weather wasn't kind for Germans but it gave the necessary time for French. The Battle of Verdun started at 07:15 a.m. February 21, 1916 - nine days later than planned - with 9 hours of bombardment (about 100 000 shells per hour).

"It is a war of brute material. For hours they bombard with 210, 305 and 380. And when everything appears dead, when there's no more wire, no more trenches, when the survivors had been reduced to the state of madness, they send the masses out to attack. And when the French are at the receiving end, not one of them brakes through. If there's only ten out of a hundred left, these ten will fight on." - letter of a French solder, Frebruary 21, 1916.

At Verdun, approximately every minute a soldier died (in comparison: ischaemic heart diseases killed 14 people per minute in 2012 and diabetes around 3).

"The Parche started to bombard us with large calibre shells for ten hours. It was enough to drag you mad. We were buried alive - my entire squad. Miraculously, all seven of us emerged without a scratch. But the five unlucky ones that came and took refuge in our dugout... two were killed and three were wounded." - a French solder on February 21, 1916.

After shell rain, "over the top" was ordered. It was here that the Germans tried their new weapon - fire throwers (oil propelled by liquid nitrogen). The Germans managed to shatter the French front in two hours, but not without a price - the Germans lost their elite storm troopers along the way.

What began as a bloodletting of French army, turned out into the longest battles of the First World War (some say it was the longest battle in the history), highly contaminated area, destroyed villages and a land that will bear live ammunition for many years to come.

The worlds that the ten left French soldiers would fight on...that wasn't the exact truth. By the time Verdun came, the war already lasted for two years. Many soldiers were already tired and exhausted. Some of them already questioned the purpose of "all of this madness". The Germans captured 10 000 French soldiers who given up the fight after the first attack. And by the 24th, only few forts stood in front of the Germans as obstacles. Fort Douaumont - "the World's most powerful fortification" - was one of them. This home for maximum 500 soldiers costed 6 000 000 golden franks (the amount equal to 3000 solder year wages).

CriticalPast.com have some old footage from preparations (some here and here) or the aftermath (here) of the Battle of Verdun.

Andre Maginot was the first person I met on the battlefield.

Monument of Andre Maginot: "Sergent au 44ene R.I.T.

        Depute de la Meuse". The monument depicts an injured A.Maginot being lead by a commrad (Francois-Joseph Jolas) from the battlefield of Verdun

There might not be a French person who does not know who Andre Maginot is. But this was the first time I heard of him...

When war broke, Andre Maginot was the deputy for Bar-Le-Duc but he immediately volunteered for service (44th Territorial Infantry Regiment). He still wore red trousers when he fought with his comrades. In one month he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. After suffering a bad knee injury, he was demobilized in late 1914. For his service Andre Maginot was awarded the Military cross. He returned to politics and worked for the veterans of the Great War.

"Maginot Line" - a defensive line on the eastern border with Germany was built in the 1930s mostly because Andre Maginot had a law passed to do it.

Further down the road, right at the crossroad - a lion sleeps.

"The Wounded Lion" - memorial to the 130th division

The 130th division was part of the Souville Garrison fighting troops. The lion also marks the furthers German advance towards Verdun on 12 July 1916. It stands in a place of former Chapel of Sainte-Fine.

After 11 days of fighting, one of the fort Souville's retractable turret tube exploded after firing 600 shells. The fort was essential in keeping Germans away from being able to attack Verdun town.

Saad drives me to Fleury-devant-Douaumont - a village in the fire line, which eventually got destroyed just like eight other villages in this area (Beaumont, Bezonvaux, Douaumont, Louvemont, Haumont, Ornes, Vaux, Cumieres). Very few of these villages got partly rebuilt (Douaumont, Ornes) 

and only one was rebuilt (Vaux). What is left is:

Farm

Fleury model

(there is a website dedicated to the destroyed villages: http://villagesdetruits.wix.com/accueil )

Located 7 km North-East from Verdun, Fleury was home for 422 inhabitants before the war. Compared to the population of Paris (2 241 346), New York (8 491 079) or Ottawa (870 250), it might be not that much (probably the size of a one third of a small street there...). But it is 422 people with houses, farms, beds, favourite cups and family history...

Located only 2.5 km from Fort Douaumont meant that the village got in a way for German advance after they captured Fort Vaux. After just few months of fighting, and "ping-pong" from one hands to the others (overall, the ownership changed 16 times during the battle), little sign of a village existence was left.

Fleury had a strategic value as it was close to the forts, Verdun and there was a the railway passing through it (line Verdun-Douaumont).

Farm

Wash house

Monument for the dead from Fleury devant-Douaumont

Once arrived at the scene where the village once was, a small chapel welcomes (I thought I had taken a picture of it but I was wrong). The chapel Notre-Dame de l'Europe stands in a site of the old church. The chapel was erected (in 1934) by former inhabitants of Fleury as a symbol of European Unity, peace and reconciliation. A statute of Virgin Mary, draped in a cloak with the colours of European flag, is places on the facade. In addition, in one of the iron windows, the Military Cross awarded to the village, is included as a part of a living tree. Everyone visiting the chapel is asked to bow for those, who suffered (no matter the side).

Fleury may be no more but despite that, it is a village that has its own mayor (the only one of the destroyed villages to have one).

Verdun Memorial Museum is just next to Fleury. Built on the site where Fleury-deviant-Doaumont old railway station once stood, it was closed at the time I visited (ongoing renovation) but it should be reopen in 2016.

There is one symbol of Verdun, if not the War one absolutely must visit, even if one is not into history - Douaumont Ossuary - the monument that required national and international effort to be built. With first stone laid in 1920, it was inaugurated in August 7, 1932. Before the idea of a separate structure came, Fort Douaumont was considered to be the ossuary due to its importance and story during the battle.

Douaumont Ossuary is a large, artillery shell-shaped (others compare it with a medieval sword plunged into the earth. Because of the rush, I again do not have pictures of it... damn.) 46 meters (151 feets) high tower with 137 meters long wings, which are the resting place for no less than 130 000 people (in the form of their bones), who died on this soil. The bones of French and Germans, Catholics, Muslims and Jews now lie one next and on each other. All nameless, indistinguishable, anonymous. All you need to do to connect with them is look from the small windows at the ground level of the Ossuary.

"The conversation"

Inside, the Ossuary is illuminated by dark red colour. The colour of blood. The few penetrated photons shed some light so one would be able to read the names of those, who were put to sleep forever. Alone or with other family member. Most of them where born 100 years before you, your kids, cousins, students, friends, family... And they will be outlived by them even if the hundred years difference will be deducted.

(Note: it is not allowed to take photos at the Ossuary! Some more photos of the inside look might be found at official Ossuary page)

There is a small chapel next to these names. The chapel has double door with a big cross between them. Windows of the chapel represents Sacrifice, Offering of the Wives and Mothers, the Redemption, the Ascension and the Stretch Bearers. Statues of Saint Joseph, Saint Therese, Sacred Heard, Joan of Arc and Pieta are there to express "the strong hope for a future without hate".

There is a big bronze, 2042 kg weighting bell (death bell, "Bourdon de la Victoire") at the tower of the Ossuary. It was a gift by Anne Thornburn Van Buren. The bell is sounded on official ceremonies. The top of the tower also houses a "lantern of the dead" (rotating red and white lights). Some time ago, it gave light to the battlefield at night, but it does not anymore.

One can get up to the tower to have a look over the battlefield (costs 6 euros).

Another place to look over a part of the battlefield is the balcony right in front of the chapel. It overlooks the national military cemetery, which hosts 16 142 French soldiers, 6 of which are from the Second World war and 592 are Muslims. The cemetery was initiated by the same Andre Maginot.

Endless rows of crosses and tombstones

It is hard to comprehend the amount of all the emotions buried here. There are so many of them, that connection with each seems to be impossible. 16 142... It might not be much if compared to small Chinese villages. But in many cases, it's the size of an average village in Europe (sometimes even a small town, depending on the country).

Memorial to the Muslim soldiers erected just next to the cemetery.

"Aux soldate

Musulmans

Morts

Pour La France"

Nobody seemed to care about religion. The person was more important.

(interesting fact: the main designer of the Ossuary is Leon Azema - a veteran of the Great War, who had spent five years in captivity after he was injured and captured at the beginning of the war)

We then moved to "Les 4 Cheminées" - the four chimneys shelter. It is located on the southern slope of the ravine des Vignes. As Saad parks the car, the only thing I see is the metal caps of the chimneys. I remember reading about this place in one of the diaries or the battle reports but I cannot recall any details.

The entrances are situated bellow the road level.

Saad

The name says everything about this place - the Four Chimneys. It was built in 1889-1891 with the idea to serve as barracks and headquarters. But during the war, it was mostly used as an aid station. It was suppose to be a place where soldiers would get at least some rest, where the wounded make their stop before continuing evacuation. But being a part of Froideterre sector, it suffered high level of artillery fire. And if they did not bombard the shelter with shells, Germans used gas. Men at the Four Chimneys were forced to live with their gas masks but nevertheless, a lot of them died - the masks were just not that good.

The structure has two entrances. At 12 meters underground, the Four Chimneys has the form of a 60 meters long and 4.5 meters wide gallery (with capacity to host 300 men). It has two entrances with a "pocket" (casemate) at each side of each entrance. Steep, 10 meter long, stairs lead into the gallery where the four chimneys were (and still are) there to provide ventilation.

The second entrance which is located only few meters away from the first one. Again, a "Denger. No entry" sign hangs above (scale - 170 cm from toes to head)

But the chimneys not only provided the needed air. They were an easy target for a grenade attack by the Germans (they were, however, eventually beaten off by a counter-attack).

At the end of the staircase

When the fortification of Verdun started in 1874, the forts were built out of masonry (used for centuries to built fortifications in Europe) on the sites of former Prussian siege batteries. However, the increase in range, accuracy and power of the artillery forced the engineers to look for stronger materials and to switch to concrete and steel. (some more information why Verdun was fortified might be found here).

Fort Vaux is probably the second most famous fort in Verdun. However, unlike his big brother, he did not fall lightly to Germans. "They shall not pass" - was the French motto at Verdun. Fort Vaux is probably the best embodiment of this. Yet despite the best efforts by the crew, it was the second fort (after its big brother) to fall.
"Here, in the empty silence of Fort Vaux, these experiences remain, and with them the memory of the men on both sides who found themselves involved in events they would surely not have chosen but who accepted the task and carried it to the end." (Christina Holstein)

The plan of Fort Vaux

The attack on Fort Vaux started on June 2nd, 1916. German advance reach the fort and surrounded it. The French refused to give the fort and fought back. Fought with everything they had. As long as they could.

When walking around the fort area, the battle scars and shell-holes are clearly visible

Parts of fort were destroyed completely 

The "left-overs"

You can approximate the size of the metal casings. And imagine the shell that caused such damage. Or how many of the shells might have done this

While walking in the area, you constantly need to look under your feet - the danger of tripping on some reinforcements sticking out of the ground is real.

Inside of the Fort the temperature is about 10 - 15 degrees Celsius - a very pleasant temperature considering what is outside. The visit of the fort is divided into thematic groups.

The rest/sleep room. The beds are more for one person and, I would guess, if the capacity of the fort was surpassed, these beds hosted even more people

After this room - room for animals in the war. There were posters with horses, dogs, of course pigeons (it was too dark to take photos there and using flash did not feel right).
Further down the road - the command post.

The Germans sealed the ventilation and attacked with gas and flame throwers. Due to this, the men inside were suffering from lack of oxygen and, eventually, water, as the reserve inside the Fort went empty. The Fort was under the command of Mayor Raynal. It was he, that on June 4th send his last pigeon explaining their situation and asking for immediate assistance ("We continue to hold, but we are suffering a very dangerous attack, by gas and fumes. It is urgent that e are relieved. Make visual communication via Souville which does not answer out calls. This is my last pigeon.").

The medical post. Notice the efficient use of space

Commander casemate

Walking in the fort might be confusing. Some walls are painted red - meaning they can withstand the heavy artillery. But in some places and cases, even they did not manage to hold. Somewhere in these corridors, a front established itself as Germans invaded the corridors and the French tried to stand their ground. 

"Bourges casemate" (just after the entrance)

Stairs leading to a no-go zone for the visitors

One of the turrets that was at the Fort. The other one is just behind the wall (scale - 170 cm)

Life is coming back

"Chapel corner", as I call it

Water reservoir. It went completely empty during the German attack. Some men managed to crawl unnoticed by the Germans during the night to a stream, but "it was only a muddy puddle now. I brought some of that back, but then every man starts to fight for every drop of water they can get. If Germans won't kill as, the thirst will" (<- rough recall of a French soldiers words)

There are exhibition of shells, shrapnel and some weapons. These are both the first thing you see when entering the fort, and the last things

"Generating set of the outpost of the Kronprinz"

Mayor Sylvian-Eugene Raynal ordered to surrender. I believe this was a hard decision (General Coutanceau: "Better to be buried under the ruins of a fort than to surrender it"). But in my eyes, it was the right one - what's the point of staying if the Germans will get the place after the Fort crew died out?
On sunny early morning of June 7, Lieutenant Werner Muller of 53rd Infantry, was the first German officer to enter Fort Vaux. He saluted the French and ordered full military honour from his men to their, now, prisoners. It was a mutual respect and understanding of one another that was brought by these horrible circumstances (note: this was not the only example of German and the Allies displayed respect towards each other).
After the Fort was in German hands, it was the French artillery that shelled it. The original owners returned when the Germans left the front on November 2nd of the same year.

I believe that the fortifications served as an inspiring symbol for the French to not give up, push forward. Even if it was 1 against 5. Fort Vaux, lead by Major Raynal, is an example of that. Furthermore, it was this Fort that showed the importance and the ability to withstand long attacks. It was a background inspiration for the Maginot line and for many other countries that started to build forts during the interwar. 

Near to Fort Vaux, there is a location of destroyed Vaux village. A chapel dedicated to Saint Philip and Saint Jacques and a memorial to the First Battalion of Hunters can be found there. The old village got a lot of artillery fire and is now in the red zone. However, Vaux-devant-Damloup village is rebuilt near the ruins of the old village. It currently has around 70 inhabitants.

French had 330 infantry regiments, 259 of those fought at Verdun. At the end of the long and tiring battle, the French had 337 231 casualty (162 308 of those dead or missing). The Germans experienced 337 000 casualties (100 000 dead or missing). The math, that von Falkenhayn set up before the attack was in the error margins. Many of the missing and dead are still in the ground. The same ground, that will bear the history of this battle for many years to come. Their bones will feed it just as their blood did. And maybe, if their lucky, a tree seed will sprout above their head.

(Both Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux can be visited (each costs 4 euro or a double ticket to both of them 6.50 euro. Children to 16 years: 2 euro. Forts are closed during winter months. Forts are quite big and it takes time to explore and investigate it fully. The audio guide tour takes about 45 minutes but, unless they are closing, nobody is driving you out.)

Part 2: daily life and not every-day people

I woke up early as never - it might have been due to the swelter. But the morning with song birds and green around me put me in a pleasant mood - today was going to be a good day and today will go as planned (at least that's what I thought then...)

                       

The morning view

I needed to be careful while packing - the blackberries were still dangerously close and there was a hole right next to my tent (might have been some kind of ventilation) - trying to get boots out of there would be a Sisyphus effort...

The city was still sleeping. There were no cars, no people. As if it just started stretching.

                       

After getting down to the river side. On the right (out of the shot) is the famous historical defensive bridge. Straight ahead is a way towards the entrance of the citadel (and the sculptures of the French commanders). On the left - the citadel

The air was pleasantly bracing (especially in the shaded areas and by the Muse river). I walked down to see the famous historical defensive bridge. Took me a while to figure out that this was it - it does not look impressive at all. Maybe inside where one can see the mechanisms...

                       

The riverside. At the top of the hill - Episcopal Palace and the tower of the cathedral

I then tried to reach the cathedral. The "closest" path I had chosen appeared to be "round and about". But on a good note - I saw some nice architectural touches and found some fountains where I could wash myself (and clean my teeth!).

                       

Not sure if it is a handwork but it is a nice touch

The cathedral was closed when I got there. Everything was still closed - it was 20 or something minutes before 8. I sat down and decided to wait for the cathedral to open - some of the notes said that it should be at 08:00 others 08:30, I hoped it was the first one - wait for an hour was not my idea of a good time while the morning was still not that hot...

Someone open the Episcopal Palace so I went to take a look there and maybe find another way to get to the cathedral...

By the time the cathedral opened up more people showed in the streets. I did spend an hour just there sitting next to cars and waiting for the doors to be unlocked. But it was worth it. The famous French stained glass... There is no words to describe it. Painterly, detailed. It captures you and you cannot take your eyes of it. Most of the times it even does not matter what is the glass depicting - the execution, presentation is enough.

           

After that, I was all pumped up to go and meet the scars of the gruesome reality...

And then I met Saad - an Algerian, who spoke only French and Arab. I was glad about that since I thought that by saying: "I don't speak French", I could go on with my plan for the day. Did not happen. He said that he saw me yesterday when I was walking from Saint-Mihiel but he drove the other way. He insisted that I would come to his home and let him show me around Verdun. So I did. After seeing my boots, he gave me his sandals. I left my things at his place and went with him. He drove me to the battle field. He was in the army (served as cook) and told me a story about him and the sleeping lion (don't remember what it was). He took me around a bit (Fleury, Fort Vaux, The Four chimneys, Doumont Ostarey). BUT. Although it was nice to see all these places and I was thankful to Saad, this was not the way I hoped to visit them. We were in a hurry, running through them, so I didn't manage to feel them. I decided that I would have to come back here. Also, I do not know how other people do it - visiting these kind of places in groups, buses, at a speed which seems sufficient only to put a check-mark. I believe that if there is a place where one should go and spend some time alone, it's this.

After the battlefield, he took me to his place. Saad made a meal saying: "You have to eat well, you need your strength". Eventually I ended up eating so much, that it was painful to move around. Saad insisted in me staying at his place but I was so behind schedule that I just could not. So he insisted that I would at least take his sandals as the boots does not do anything good for my feet. He was right. But I still could not take his sandals. He already did so much things he did not have to do for a person who knows only "yes", "no", "sure" and how to count to ten if not considering the constant forget of "five", "seven" and either "eight" or "nine".

After waving our goodbyes, I walked towards the supermarket - buy some yoghurt (I felt weird need for it throughout the whole trip), bread and take the bus to the battle field - that was the plan. I still itched to go back to the battlefield and spend my night there - on the ground, which disguised live munitions, was dark red and both the most fertilized and contaminated at the same time. I needed to be there. I needed to feel that place. I needed to understand why this all happened.

But I was so full, that I was not able to get into the bus. And it was already around 17:00 (5 p.m.). So, I changed my plan - I would camp somewhere close by the water, so I could wash my clothes and myself. I pointed on a dot next to Muse and started to walk towards it. As it appeared, there was a camping site there but no access to the river. People had their inflatable pools where kids played even though the river was no more than couple hundred meters away (France and the riversides...). I sure wasn't going to stay at a camping site, so I picked another spot - a small river as it appeared on my GPS. I reached the small stream and there it was - a fence from one side of the road, both sides of the stream covered in thick vegetation and no way to get to the water. The other side of the road was even worse, if it was possible... But I did not gave up. Not this time after everything that I gave up on...

I continued along the road and saw myself distancing from the stream. I was walking next to a fence. Until I found an entrance with a sign saying "Private property". Well... Remembering the laws that access to streams might not be forbidden and also knowing that I will leave no footprint, I entered the territory. What I saw looked like fish ponds. The water was green and opaque. And still, no nice access to it. In one of the ponds I saw this

                                   

 Is this a some sort of submarine..?                      

I finally came to the stream.

Where the stream meats the pond

Again, there was no easy access there. But there was a bridge made out of used wooden railway and by holding myself to them, I was able to go down. On the other side of the small bridge, there was a dog hotel or dog training area - I heard a lot of barking. For one night, my sleeping next to cows was exchanged by a sleep next to dogs - this felt even more like home.

I washed up in the stream (cold and refreshing), washed my clothes, planed my route and went to sleep. Again, the night was hot. I thanked for the people I met so far and wondering what else will this trip bring me. And strangely baffled by the thought of how different my sleep is from the one, that Frederic had hundred years ago...


(November 10th, 2015 I got a surprise call from an unknown number from a different country. As I answered the phone, Saad was on the other end. Never in my life would I imagine to get a call. I remember all the people I met through this trip every day. I am not very good at writing letters, so they most probably do not know that I wish them all the best and I thank them for impacting my life every day (sometimes few times a day). People are awesome).