Noël part 2: The remnants of war

The next day we drove around the battlefields.  Even though I had visited them before, I still found them interesting.

Tip: If you go to the village detruit of Douamont, you will see a little sign next to a footpath that leads to the fort.  Unless you are part mountain goat, drive around by way of the road.

Guess which route we took?  It was muddy and slippery (no pictures of this because I was trying not to fall on my face).  As miserable as it was, I couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like for the thousands of men trudging in the very same mud on their way to almost certain death.  Chilling.

Here are some photos from the trip:

 Fleury: one of the 28 destroyed villages around Verdun.

 The ground here is not normally that hilly.  Those are the remnants of explosions.

 The Douamont

 The bayonet trench

 This is a part of the fort, which is actually a large hill.  The view from the top was very neat. (It was so inspiring, the seminarians whipped out their breviaries for a little impromptu daytime prayer).

Paris is yet to come!