War and Resistance

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You can't go far in France without reminders of wars. What struck me was how similar the memorials to both WW1 & WW2 are to the ones we are familiar with in Australia. The monuments and memorials are in prominent positions in a town square, or in a park, near the main public buildings, at a crossroad etc and may be a column or a statue of a soldier in a heroic pose, and with a list of names from WW1 and WW2. Then you look more closely and notice the dates, places and manner of death and that in many cases there is also a list of civilians. Chilling.

Besançon has a comprehensive and moving museum to the Resistance movement situated in its wonderful citadel. We found the history of the Deportation and Resistance, told from the perspective of the people from one specific region to be very poignant. The experience of this border area encapsulates that of occupied France, Jews and the Holocaust, the forced removal of large numbers of people to labour camps, the activities of the Maquis, and the reprisals against individuals, groups and whole communities, including the martyr villages which were completely destroyed. It also documents the ways these communities sorted themselves out after the war, coping with grief, the knowledge of collaboration and resistance, and the destruction of villages, farms, industries and lives.

The Besançon citadel, which is high above the town with amazing views, is one of the many fortifications designed or modified in the 17th Century by the military engineer Vauban. He was Marshall of France and military advisor to Louis XIV. It also houses a fascinating cultural museum and is the home of a small zoo with a focus on endangered species (think baboons housed in part of the outer (dry!) moat, flamingos in the in the courtyard, lions in the inner moat, rock wallabies near the ramparts...).

Belfort, with it's wonderful lion statue by Frédéric Bartholdi, is also a Vauban designed fortified citadel. The lion was commissioned to commemorate a war, this time the siege of Belfort in 1870-71 during the Franco-Prussian war.

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Photos

Champlitte
We stopped here to buy lunch

Unexpected church decoration.
During WW1 two bombs hit this church but did not explode!
(This village is between Nancy and Metz)

Besançon citadel
View from the battlements.

Belfort citadel and lion at sunset
Memorial to the Siege of Belfort.

Namur, Belguim
Memorial facing the Meuse river, a front line in many wars including WW1 & WW2