Day 9: a day of rest and reflection

We got up early this morning with the intention of heading up to the Verdun battlefield monuments before it got too hot. After a typical French breakfast of croissant, baguette, and jam (i.e., not much in he way of protein), we were on the road by 9 a.m. Google maps gave us two options to climb the 170 metres up to the monuments; we chose the longer but more gradual route. I’m glad we did, because even this route was a fairly strenuous 4 kilometre climb.

A few symbolic poppies in a barley field on our climb up to he Verdun monuments

A worthwhile effort, however. The Verdun monuments were one of the things I wanted to see on this trip, and they were, frankly, even more moving than I expected. We didn’t have the time to enter any of the buildings, but the whole area is impressive enough from the outside. It’s hard to even comprend what this region looked like 100 years ago. Both of us headed back down to Verdun in a reflective mood.

The Douaumont Ossuary

The destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont. The artillery “landscaping” is very evident. 

Google maps took us down some fairly rough gravel forestry roads, but in some respects, it was nice to be in the woods and away from the traffic. We made it safely into Verdun and headed to the train station to buy our tickets to Saverne. Then we headed into town to find some lunch, a public toilet (that rare French animal), and explore the town a bit. The rising heat prevented any of this from being very vigorous, but we enjoyed our afternoon in Verdun.

Verdun. Our last sight of the Meuse.

Then we put our bikes on the train and headed for parts east. The train voyage to Saverne required a transfer in Metz, but all went according to plan. Both trains arrived and left precisely on time. For this day, we might have been in Switzerland. Fortuitously, there was a lovely little market just outside the Saverne train station, so we were able to pick up provisions for dinner on our way to the Airbnb, which is a wonderful apartment overlooking Rohan Castle right in the middle of town. All in all, just 24 kilometres on the bike. Tomorrow is a “rest” day; we’re going to explore this lovely little town of Saverne and do some hiking in the Vosges.