To Verdun

August 24, 2022

The day started out pleasant enough but became more contemplative and somber. The first ten miles were most enjoyable as I wound my way along the small roads on the east side of the Meuse River. There were a couple of climbs, neither was too serious though the second bump nudged up to just over 13% before sweeping me down and across the river to the mid-sized town of Saint Mihiel.

The route stayed on the west side of the Meuse River for about the next twenty miles. Similar to yesterday, the road on the west side was larger, with a bit more traffic and trees and was fairly uninteresting as it passed through a series of small towns on the way to Verdun. I found a shady spot for lunch on the steps of the church in Viviers-sur-Meuse, and was just packing up when Saskia and Han rounded the corner. Dressed for a day at the beach, complete with flip-flops, the pair were certainly not your run-of-mill cycling tourists. They were in fact touring the area, but today were on a day ride, having left most of their gear at their camping site in Verdun. After exchanging the usual information, our conversation drifted into politics until we finally cried uncle and they headed off in search for bread.

Boozefighters - not a group of Prohibitionists but rather an outlaw motorcycle club founded in California with chapters worldwide, including Chapter 176 here in Mercin. The moniker refers to those who fight when drunk. Maybe I should have been tipped off by the skull above the sign

The Easy Rider motorcycle shop next door was another hint as to the nature of the Boozefighters

A return to the gently rolling and twisting roads along the east side of the Meuse River

Saskia and Han, touring cyclists from Holland looking for bread while out for a day ride

After leaving Saskia and Han, my thoughts turned to what lay ahead - a visit to the Verdun Memorial and Battlefield. The city of Verdun has long played an important role in the defense of France, dating back to the fifth century when Atilla the Hun tried, and failed, to take the city. It was here during WWI that the German army sought to crush the French army.

The Battle of Verdun began on February 21, 1916 with a massive, ten-hour German artillery bombardment of French defenses in the forest and hills outside the city of Verdun. The battle lasted 302 days, ending on December 17 when the French succeeded in finally repelling the German forces. The battle is notable for being the longest, bloodiest, and one of the most costly wartime battles, with casualties on both sides exceeding 700,000. It is also a noted example of the horrors of trench warfare, as reflected in this quote from a soldier’s diary

Humanity is mad. It must be mad to do what it is doing. What a massacre! What scenes of horror and carnage! I cannot find words to translate my impressions. Hell cannot be so terrible. Men are mad!

Walking through the exhibits, I reflected both on the horrors of past wars and my current alarm at the increasingly violent rhetoric used by some in the US who call for war – not as a metaphor, but as a call to arms against government institutions and/or fellow Americans. Indeed, it does seem as if humanity has gone mad.

But in addition to symbolizing the horrors of war, Verdun has also come to symbolize peace. After visiting the memorial, I went to the Douaumont ossuary and cemetery where, on September 22, 1984, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President François Mitterand held hands as a gesture of Franco-German reconciliation. More significant is that reconciliation extends beyond the government alliance to the people of each country – as my last night’s German dinner companion noted, we are all family. May we all recognize our shared humanity.

André Maginot was a French soldier wounded at Verdun in WW1. He later would become French Minister of War and is known for the Maginot Line, a line of concrete forts and weapons built in the 1930s as a defense against a German invasion.

The Memorial de Verdun, dedicated to the WWI Battle of Verdun, a battle between German and Allied forces which lasted 302 days in the forested hillsides outside the city of Verdun

The Douaumont Ossuary, a memorial that contains skeletal remains of soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun

National cemetery of Fleury-devant-Douaumont contains the graves of 16,142 French soldiers died in the Battle of Verdun

National cemetery of Fleury-devant-Douaumont

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Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 2,231 miles (3,590 km)

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Rachael AndersonGreat post! It definitely seems like humanity has gone mad but fortunately there are still good and kind people out there!
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2 years ago

Suzanne GibsonA sobering reminder
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2 years ago

Susan CarpenterTo Rachael AndersonThanks Rachael - And one of the best ways to meet those good and kind people is cycle touring.
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonTo Susan CarpenterDefinitely!
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/Grampies"More significant is that reconciliation extends beyond the government alliance to the people of each country – as my last night’s German dinner companion noted, we are all family. May we all recognize our shared humanity."

Beautiful sentiment. We agree completely.
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2 years ago