A Ladies' Road, The Dragon's Cave, and Trenches: WWI History

Today was our last full day in France, and we drove through the countryside east of Paris to explore several places which were significant during the Great War.

A main road that goes through this area is called Chemin des Dames (The Ladies' Road), so-called because King Louis XV (18th Century) had had this road improved for his daughters, who often traveled on it between Paris and a château which belonged to his mistress (who also was friendly with his daughters). The Chemin des Dames saw several major battles during WWI (1914-1918), as it was located on a strategic ridge east of Paris. Both German and French troops alternately held both the ridge, the extensive hive of limestone quarry caverns underneath it, and the trenches which snaked their way through north-eastern France.

We stopped near the village of Craonne. At the top of the ridge, called Plateau de Californie, there is a pastoral view of the valley below. Along this tree-covered ridge, there are remnants of hidden bunkers which were used by the Germans. Dangerous live munitions, now 100 years old, are still found in this area. One is supposed to stay on the marked paths, and call authorities, if any metal objects are found. That being said, it is a great place to take a hike -- and we saw plenty of people (many with their dogs) on the trails. Not far from the observation area above the parking lot, you can actually walk just a few minutes into the forest and see the remnants of trenches which were built by soldiers during WWI -- where those soldiers spent four miserable years living, fighting, and dying through freezing, wet, winters and hot, humid summers. Below, Mark is standing in what is left of a trench.

A short drive down the slope from the Plateau, in the Ailette river valley, we visited the museum for the Caverne du Dragon. The gently-sloping area is covered with wildflowers and wheat fields which hide the limestone quarry caverns underneath that housed troops from both Germany and France.

The recently-built museum is a small, modern structure with a few artifacts and a place to buy coffee or soft drinks. The attraction is actually the tour one takes of the quarry's cavern below. Throughout the day, they have guided tours (in either French or English) which descend about 100 steps down into the chilly caves. The guide keeps you on the paths, moving from room to room, explaining how the caves were used during the war. Thousands of soldiers called these caves home during the Great War. At one time, both French and German soldiers were housed in nearby caves (and could sometimes even hear one another). This cave still has many rooms which are off-limits to tourists, as there are unstable ceilings and live munitions, even the remains of some dead soldiers, which have yet to be discovered. It is unsafe to go too far into those parts of the cavern. It was fascinating to see the rough-hewn caves with remnants of telecommunications equipment poking out of the rock ceilings and German writing on the walls. In the field next to the Caverne du Dragon, there are nine tall statues. The dark, charred wooden sculptures, by Christian Lapie, are monuments to the African soldiers who fought for France and died in WWI.

We stopped in a wheat field in Craonne to see this lonely monument to Napoleon. It was here in 1814, 100 years before WWI, that Napoleon's men successfully fought the Battle of Craonne against invading Prussians and Russians.

Many of the wheat fields here had a border of blue wildflowers (with some red poppies and little white flowers sprinkled-in as well). Photos don't do it justice, but here are a couple anyway. :D 

We had planned to pick-up some picnic supplies in the area and find a place to stop for lunch. It was a little tricky to find anything open (because, of course, many things are closed on Monday). After driving around the small villages for quite a few miles, we finally came upon a grocery store. IT WAS CLOSED FOR LUNCH! Fortunately, we only had to wait about 20 minutes for it to open. We got some drinks, cheese, ham and fruit (already had bread from our breakfast), and headed back to a park we'd noticed earlier that day. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain at this point. We still had a pretty view of green parkland and forest for our in-car picnic.

After lunch, we made a brief stop near the park at Vauclair, where the ruins of the Vauclair Abbey can still be seen. When we were planning our day, we didn't even know that this was in the area. What a nice surprise to come across this dramatic old ruin of the abbey which had been founded back in 1134 by Cistercian monks. The abbey was quite successful, and even managed to survive the Hundred Years' War and the French Wars of Religion. During the French Revolution in 1789, it was sold and became the property of the country. During the battles of WWI, the buildings that were still standing were mostly destroyed by bombing in the area.

After a full day of driving and discovering not only our intended WWI sites, but also sites from hundreds of years before, we headed to our final French destination: the Sheraton at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. I don't have any photos of the airport -- it really isn't that noteworthy. However, I would definitely recommend staying there, if you want to avoid Paris traffic before a flight. It isn't near anything beautiful, historical, or even charming. It is actually inside the airport. However, it is clean, stylish, comfortable, surprisingly quiet -- and your room comes with a view of the tarmac. Oh, and did I mention the air conditioning? Ahhh.

"Come quickly, I am drinking the stars" - Dom Pérignon (maybe)

Today, we took the short drive over to Épernay to visit the champagne caves of Moët & Chandon. Being a Sunday, many things are actually closed in France (especially the smaller towns), but we knew that there were a few champagne houses that were open for tours. Here, in the Champagne region, you can visit everything from small, family-run operations to the big houses that ship Champagne all over the world. Moët & Chandon, one of the largest, is one of those that you do not usually need advance reservations to visit. We arrived in late morning, and were able to get into the next tour (which was in about an hour). For about €30 each, we chose the tour which included two tastings.

The Hôtel de Ville (French for City Hall) in Épernay has a gorgeous monument to the local soldiers and casualties of WWI. We cooled our heels for a while at the park at the Hôtel de Ville before the tour. We didn't get a good photo, but there was a little Mallard family (mom and five babies) having a great time in this pond.

Time for the tour! First, the guide takes you to one of the rooms in the estate where the family would have received important guests. The family Chandon still owns the estate, and there are buildings across the street which still serve as the family's home.

Claude Moët founded the champagne house back in 1743, during the reign of King Louis XV.  Demand for champagne increased under this king, and Moët became the supplier to French royalty and aristocracy, as well as to nobles throughout Europe and even to the American colonies. The operation was further expanded and the brand became even more widely known after Claude's death in 1792, when his grandson, Jean-Rémy Moët took over the business. Moët purchased the vineyards which had belonged to the Abbey in Hautvillers, where Dom Perignon had spent most of his life. At his retirement in 1832, management of  the house was given to Jean-Remy's son, Victor Moët, and his son-in-law, Pierre-Gabriel Chandon de Briailles. With the addition of Pierre-Gabriel, the name of the business was eventually changed to Moët & Chandon.

In 1810, Napoleon and Josephine (and their entourage) visited the house of Moët & Chandon. They brought a gift of this enormous oak barrel (filled with wine, of course, as champagne is fermented in the bottle). Empty now, it still sits in a place of honor in the caves.  The limestone caves, by the way, stretch for almost 20 miles in an underground labyrinth. They are a constant, cool temperature, and a bit humid.

(Thanks, SnapCollage!)

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At the end of our tour, we were taken to a tasting room. The two tastings we had were a full glass each of the Moët & Chandon Imperial and Imperial Rosé. I hate to say it, but I only drank about half of my glasses, or I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon!

As with any proper tour, you exit through the giftshop!

Can you hear me now?

How about a bottle of Moët, decorated with gold leaf and in its own wooden box for 680€?

After the tour, we walked around Épernay a bit, enjoying the architecture, river, and flowers.

Here I am, standing on the sidewalk of the street where many of the champagne houses of Épernay are located.

Later that afternoon, we made a stop in the small village of Hautvillers, the birthplace of champagne. The abbey here is where Dom  Pérignon worked and is now buried. Surrounded by vineyards, Hautvillers is quite charming. I would choose to stay here, if we are lucky enough to visit this area in the future.

Mark and I on a hillside, overlooking the vineyards of Hautvillers.  We met an expat couple on this road with their two little dogs. Originally from America, they were living in Scotland, and had come down to France on holiday. Funny thing: they'd purchased a dumpy old car on the internet to drive around as cheap transportation for their visit. 

And now for a little WWI History: Reims

From le Mont Saint-Michel, we made the long drive to Reims, where we had two nights in a B&B. Here I am in the garden of the B&B. Prior to our arrival here (East of Paris by about 1.5 hours), we stopped along the way in Meux, France, to visit their new WWI museum. In addition to this year being the 70th anniversary of D-Day in WWII, it is also the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI. Throughout France, there were new memorials, attractions and museums created for the anniversaries this year.

At the WWI museum in Meux, Mark stands in front of one of the approximately 600 Parisian taxis which were used to bring around 6,000 troops out to the front lines during the Battle of the Marne.

Forget email or telephones, homing pigeons were used in WWI to transport important messages. This pigeon-wagon was the world-wide-web of its day.

Some examples of the instruments (and art) that were made by soldiers in the trenches. The troops spent four years living and fighting in miserable trenches carved-into French soil. When they weren't fighting, they conquered boredom by improvising with materials to create games, musical instruments, toys, kitchen-ware, candlesticks and many other items. The guitar on the left is made of wood and a soldier's helmet.

The museum had some examples of what a trench would have looked like during the war. Used in all seasons, they would have been a horrible way to live and fight -- at times, hot & muggy, swampy, wet, or freezing-cold.

This biplane really illustrates how primitive the weapons of war were 100 years ago. Also on display, the tanks that were used:

After viewing the museum, we continued-on to Reims. Our B&B was right in the city, which was noisier and not as charming as Bayeux. If we return to this part of France someday, we will probably stay in the villages of Épernay or Hautvilliers, where the small, well-preserved historic towns are surrounded by vineyards of champagne grapes. We really enjoyed our evening in Reims, however, as we ate a late dinner on the square facing the cathedral. This summer, on Friday and Saturday nights, there is a music and light show projected onto the cathedral which was pretty spectacular. An added bonus: our table was right next to the table of a young American expat, Catherine, who was now living in Belgium. She and her black lab, Shiree, (from N. Carolina) were so much fun to chat with during dinner and the folllowing light show.

Pretty amazing light show: the Reims cathedral, like most, is made of creamy-beige stone. The lights projected onto it created a beautiful stained-glass effect that changed with the music throughout the show. The show couldn't start until 11pm, as it stays light so late in the summer in Northern France!

Le Mont Saint-Michel

We arrived at the small village on the mainland just off of the causeway to le Mont Saint-Michele in time for lunch at a local restaurant. We had found out that on Friday and Saturday nights in the summer, there is an evening admission to the abbey, which includes candle-lit rooms and live music. Bonus: the crowds that pack the little winding Medieval streets on the mont have mostly left the island by the evening, so you get a nicer view of the abbey and its rocky island.

Just across from our hotel, there were several restaurants (all with similar menus, featuring salads and crêpes). Sheep are the big thing here, as there are salty meadows nearby where the sheep graze. The special diet creates a unique tasting lamb that is quite prized. We didn't try the lamb, but these cows were kind of fun.

We hung-out and relaxed a little at the hotel before heading over to le Mont Saint-Michele for the evening.

On the stairs, heading up to the abbey. I'd have loved to have seen the Mont in high-tide, but it was low tonight as it had been on my first visit with COC a few weeks ago.

 The place was just beautiful in the light of candles.

There was a floutist in the rectory, harpist in another lower room, and a cellist playing in the cathedral. It really added to the beauty and ambience of the place.

The art displayed for the evening entrance was interesting. Some very old, and some quite modern, like the projected image which referenced the video game, Portal:

The evening light really enhanced the beautifully-carved details of vines and flowers in the cloister.

Funny story about the golden statue of Archangel Michel that sits atop the abbey: When it was sculpted, apparently the artist didn't know much about swords. The statue has the scabbard on his right, and he holds the sword in his right hand. The scabbard is always on the opposite side of the hand that holds the sword  in order to be a ble to pull the sword out.

Arromanches, D-Day's Gold and Juno Beaches

Arromanches, Normandie, France: The WWII Mulberry Harbor here is still quite visible offshore. There is a new 360-degree cinema at the top of the hill overlooking this site, which has a fantastic movie of actual WWII footage which came from journalists from many different countries that fought in the war. 

On the other side of the road from the ocean, there are wheat fields as far as the eye can see. Normandie provides France with the wheat that makes much of their bread.

Next to the beach, a German bunker that was repurposed. You can see the damage from the D-Day bombing. The beaches are wide and beautiful here. Families spend the day in the sunshine, boating and scooping their nets in the shallows for shrimp (the kids, below, were having a blast catching them, "Maman, crevettes!!!").

It was fun to watch the little tractors hauling boats into and out of the water to the parking lot.

Here there is a beach, there is a city. A city where I live: Courseulles sur Mer

I loved this: a small library right on the boardwalk of the beach at Courseulles Sur Mer -- and people (even kids) were actually using it! The library provided both books and games. We decided to have a seafood lunch at a nice restaurant right on the boardwalk. Mark is always game to try the local delicacies (even when they are scary)! He ordered bulots for a first course -- a large turban-shelled sea snail, which is steamed and served with mayonnaise for dipping. Here he is, conquering the monsters from the briny deep:

After lunch, we visited Pegasus Bridge, which crosses the Caen Canal between the cities of Caen and Ouistreham in Normandie. The is the site where British Gliders successfully landed on the night of D-Day. The original bridge now sits on the grounds of a WWII museum dedicated to these brave troops. The new bridge is still in the original location, just about a block away (and pretty-much looks the same  as the original). The gliders (dozens of them) came-in silently in the dark and hit their targets remarkably well. This museum is full of soldiers' personal effects, uniforms, a diorama and movie which shows how the mission succeeded that night. They also have a full-scale replica of a glider, as well as parts of the Bailey Bridges (bridge panels that could be placed quickly by the Allies where there were no bridges).

Glider (above) and Bailey Bridge (below)

From here, we left WWII history behind for a drive out to le Mont-Saint-Michel.