Somber Verdun

 Leaving Beaune, I headed for Verdun and then Reims, the latter the home of the famous cathedral and center of the champagne region and industry.  Verdun of course was the location of the dreadful and tragic battle in WWI in 1916 between the French and Germans where there were more than 1 million casaulties in a battle that decided pretty much nothing (very little land was gained or lost).  The pockmarked landscape, while overgrown, still showed the scars of 6m+ shells-

I toured Ft Douemont which seemed as cold and miserable now as then (I felt like a WWI soldier for about 15 minutes which was quite enough).  4 men to a bunk which seemed even rougher than my digs in Beaune-

I did see one very close aerial dog fight which I adroitly captured with my quick photographic skills-

But overall a sad and somber place-

WWI was such a tragedy and Verdun, along with the Somme,  probably its most futile example.  The French do tend the graves well, tho.

I did stay at a beautiful bnb in Verdun, however, owned by a lovely older French couple who had stunning outdoor garden-