First stop was a petrol stop. I had more trouble with the tomtom/headset connection, so had to navigate there without audio. I went wrong at least once!
We had a brief drink stop in a little village, then pressed on. Our only POI stop should have been next, but Grizzly spotted a McDs and decided he needed coffee and chips, so in we went. I usually have an iced tea but this time chose a cold cafe latte.
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| Mmm, lots of cream! |
Back on the road we were going great guns, We were able maintain a good pace all day, as the roads were pretty clear. I do like riding through France. Our POI stop was at the Ossuaire de Douaumont. Here is a monument to those who died during the Battle of Verdun. There are 16,000 gravestones in nice neat white rows in the graveyard, whilst in the Ossuary itself, there are the remains of 130,000 unknown soldiers. Yes, 130,000!
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| Just some of the 16,000 graves |
The building comprises a 133 metre cloister, a chapel and a 46 metre high tower. In the cloister are engraved the names of over 4,000 of the Verdun dead. Underneath the cloister, are the vaults where the remains of the unknown are kept. There are small windows that one can look through, to see the collection of skulls, thigh bones, etc. It's a sad sight.
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| The Ossuary |
We had a short film before we toured the cloister, showing what it was like in the trenches and imparting general information about the battle and the consequences, not just in terms of loss of life but also in terms of the destruction of towns in the area. I think there were at least half a dozen villages that were totally obliterated by the bombardment.
Grizzly wasn't up for climbing the tower, though there were seats at every level, so he could have made it up I reckon, so I went on my own. There's a huge bell at the top and a viewing area, which gives an excellent view out over what was once a desolate battle field.
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| View out over the graves |
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| The bell tolls at 12 & 6 |
With our visit concluded, we were on the road again. As we left the site, though the woodland, it struck me, that none of the trees in what was quite dense woodland, can be much more than 105 years old! It's hard to comprehend, none of them being around.
We ticked off the 40 miles to the hotel with another great ride. My only worry was we were riding into the sun and once again I had forgotten to apply sun cream, so my nose would be bright red again! We arrived about 6pm. It had been a long day in the saddle but and enjoyable one, even including an 'adventure' where Tomtom led us up a road that ended in a patch of grass behind a church! Grizzly was buzzing when we arrived, he'd really enjoyed the ride. Maybe because one long stretch was dead straight, so he didn't have to take any corners! š
With the hotel in the middle of nothing again, we were lucky that they have a restaurant, so our end of tour dinner was secure.
Wildlife watch - today has been a good day for wildlife. Besides the usual birds of prey, we saw another couple of storks in a field. However, we had some 4 legged wildlife to report today. Firstly, a hare hopped across the road in front of me, then we saw 3 deer in a field and both Grizzly and I saw foxes. Oh yes, nearly forgot, when I was going up the tower, two of the tiny windows had occupants.
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| The bird flew off when I peered in |
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| Busy Bees |
Tomorrow, we will be back in Blighty. Grizzly was worried about how late he'd get to Leigh Delamere, so I've managed to change our crossing, bringing it forward by an hour. It means we'll have to be leaving Reims pretty smartish in the morning, especially if we want to stop en-route for some beers from a supermarket.
Until tomorrow then.
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