Snow, Nancy, Verdun and the Meuse

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27 October 2012

After eight weeks of mostly hot sunny weather, we were brought down to earth today. Following a night of continuous rain, when we pulled out of the fromagerie it was evident that the trees higher up on the surrounding hills were covered in snow. We needed to cross the 949m high Col du Bonhomme in the Vosges Mountains. As we ascended the rain soon turned to snow and we went over the Col in a blizzard!

We drove into the town of Nancy in the Lorrain Region, found ourselves a convenient disabled parking spot and in bitterly cold weather had a quick look at Place Stanilas, one of the best examples of 18^th century Neoclassical urban planning that can be seen.

As the day wore on the weather improved and our next visit was to Verdun, site of the huge 1916-18 battles between the French and Germans. We went round the Ossuaire de Douaument, the monument built in the 1920s which contains the remains of hundreds of thousands unidentified troops.

Our stopover was at the delightful aire in the village of Stenay on the banks of the Meuse. We had a delicious meal at a close by Hotel.

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