A Brief Stop at Meuse-Argonne then onto Folembray

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Today we start the introduction to a new chapter of our adventure. The introduction means two driving days across North East France to get to Calais. We have travelled some of these roads before so we will not need to spend much time sight seeing. The countryside we are crossing can be very emotional for many people for a variety of reasons. We hope to convey this in our blog.

It’s raining again in Nancy. Just as well we enjoyed our day of sightseeing yesterday. It probably doesn’t matter that it rains on a driving day. The car groomer may have other thoughts on the matter. To get the car out of the apartment garage we have to manipulate the swipe card and garage door remote and key in the correct order. Once we are on the street we need to return the remote and swipe card to reception. Quite an involved business. Each team member has their allotted task. Once we have completed this exercise with military precision we can leave Nancy.

For a brief time we head out of Nancy in the same direction in which we arrived. Seems like the same rain clouds as well. It doesn’t take long before we head towards Verdun, a region that suffered terribly in the Great War of 1914-18. We visited the battlefields and memorials of Verdun in 2015. Even though it is two years on the memories of what we saw are still fresh. It must have been horrendous and only those who lived through the battles can truly describe what war was like. Today forests, cultivated land and new towns hide the scars.

As we drive further north we pass wheat and maize fields. The land rolls from one town to the next. We stop for lunch in a large Cora supermarket. It doesn’t have the finesse of our friend Mr Leclerc. The rain doesn’t help.

We plan a stop at the American Monument and Cemetery at d’Argonne. Like all memorials the American Memorial is immaculate. Workers are busy tidying the grounds and not a leaf dare land on the marble steps. The climb up the 230 plus spiral steps inside the tower is certainly some workout. The view from the top is worth the effort. Today the panoramic view looks over a peaceful productive landscape. A hundred years ago it would have been a scene of devastation like the remains of a village church at the foot of the tower. These remains are all that is left of the town that once stood here.

The drive to the American Cemetery takes about fifteen minutes. The public road divides the cemetery grounds. On one side are the graves and chapel, on the other a visitors centre that resembles a colonial house from America. The grounds are immaculate. A team of workman are busy mowing this large cemetery. This cemetery is the largest American cemetery in Europe including both World Wars and contains the remains of over 14,000 servicemen. The staggering fact is most of those buried here died in such a short space of time. Because of the layout it is hard to get a true picture of the enormity of the loss of young lives.

We drive on towards our destination still three hours away. Our drive through this beautiful countryside continues and we reflect on what it may have looked like one hundred years ago. The loss of a generation of young men from across the world. The locals who lost loved ones and their homes. The cost of war is immeasurable. This north eastern part of France has been fought over for centuries. Today we see only the memorials, of which there are too many to count, and the cemeteries. The land is now covered in crops of maize, wheat, and sunflowers with regenerating forests. So peaceful.

Leaving the Meuse our drive takes us towards Rheims. Time to ring our host and let her know we are on our way but running a bit behind time. The only word she understands is our names and we have a booking. We don’t try and pronounce Rheims as it sounds nothing like it looks. We say “Au revoir, be there in an hour”. We didn’t take into account the deviation and rush hour traffic while skirting through the outskirts of the city. We were here two years ago and it still looks familiar. Once out of the city it is good driving. People heading home from work turn off at regular intervals and soon we are on our own as we head for Folembray, a small village south of Saint Quentin.

Our hostess is waiting and shows us to our room. Her English is restricted to greetings and yes and no. We start to have fun with our conversation. We all laugh a lot at our attempts. Just as well we are here for a fun time not a long time. We take up our hostesses suggestion of dinner at the Bellevue Hotel by the castle in the next village. Dinner proves to be quite delicious. The nearby castle was once the largest in France. It is strategically placed on a hill looking out over the surrounding countryside. In WWI the Germans blew it up with 70 tons of dynamite to reduce its effectiveness as a front line observation post before retreating. That is the way it is done in war. Today we witness the same in the Middle East.

It has been a long day but a great night. Tomorrow we head towards Calais and our last night in France before we head to England. But we’ll be back in a fortnight.

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Photos

American Memorial
Somewhere down there is the co-pilot

American Memorial
The staircase

American Memorial
Remains of the church

American Cemetery
Just a small section

American Cemetery
The chapel