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.
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