WWI Battlefields of Verdun

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About an hour after we left Pont-a-Bar, we cycled into Sedan. Rhea's father was already at the hotel/fortress to meet us, and after a quick freshen-up, we locked away the bikes and set off to see the battlefields of Verdun.

Local attitudes to the wars of the past vary significantly around Europe. In Germany, the wars of the 20th century tend only to be mentioned very briefly and matter-of-factly in relevant museum exhibits. In France, and this region in particular, the First World War is still holds great significance, even 100 years later.

The forests outside Verdun have been preserved as a war memorial, and are scattered with war cemetaries - with a respectful distance between the separate German and French cemetaries. Old bunkers and gun emplacements are still intact, and the old trenchlines and craters are still feintly visible in the contours of the ground within the dense forests.

One of the most significant monuments in this is the Ossuary, which was built very soon after WWI, and holds the skeletal remains of thousands of unidentified soldiers from both sides. Outside, a vast lawn cemetary (French only) is segregated into Christian and Muslim graves, each decorated with a small rose bush. Many of the soldiers appear to have been from colonial forces, so there were many Muslims among the dead.

Another interesting monument is the Bayonet Trench - the preserved remains of a French trench that collapsed during battle, burying the soldiers and leaving only their bayonets protruding from the soil. A sandstone monument was built over the mound of soil with the protruding bayonets, and it has been preserved as a grave of unknown French soldiers. Rusty hilts of bayonets are still visible, with the blades broken off or rusted away, however it appears that there has been some restorative work since they are now protruding from clumps of concrete.

All in all, it's an interesting place to see, and the atmosphere tends to be one of reverence and quiet reflection, as opposed to the morbid and unsettling sense you get at places like the Cambodian Killing Fields.