Verdun and Douaumont; World War I sites

We’d hopped a train to Meuse, France and then a bus to Verdun. Verdun is the site of World War I action that Lucian studied about in school. The fighting occurred in the hills outside of Verdon and around the town of Douaumont.  We thought we’d visit one battlefield one day and the other the 2^nd day.

We called a taxi and had the driver take us to Fort Douaumont, the furthest point from our hotel, and requested that she pick us up at the Ossuary at 2:30pm. We thought that it would be plenty of time. Well, it wasn’t until 4pm that we were ready to be picked up.

The fort is an underground structure built into a hill; 2 floors high. The fort was hit by armaments several times, causing many deaths inside. One explosion, inside the fort, which has not been explained, killed several hundred soldiers.

The fort is eerie inside, echoing, cold and wet. It is difficult to know how the soldiers survived. The sounds of artillery must have echoed so loud, especially the explosion that occurred inside the fort.

The Ossuary is a memorial to the soldiers who died. A room along the bottom is filled with bones of soldiers, stacked from floor to ceiling, collected from the fields or dug up by farmers. It is said that over 1 million people were killed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun

The forest has regrown with trees planted over 100 years ago. The trenches, for the most part, are filled in with mud, and grass. Ammunitions are still in the ground so whole areas are closed off. But mostly the trenches cannot be accessed because there is such thick brush.

We found one trail and I went to where it dead ended above a trench. Lucian went down another trail and we followed, walking along trenches until we reached the trench area filled in with mud, plants and live ammunition. But it was strange walking where so many soldiers fought and died so many years ago, and for so little reason.

We went thru the Memorial at Verdon where we saw many items from the war and films from the era. What was sad was the propaganda that people believed about their own country and distrust of other people led to so many deaths and so much destruction. And, unfortunately, it happens over and over again.

 

Grandkid Trip 2, Germany to Start

And now for Grandkids Trip #2. For this trip we are taking our middle boy’s oldest son to Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and more Germany.

The trip started out with just Germany and Austria, but then he asked if we could visit some battlefields which happen to be in France. Our son thought that CERN would be interesting so we added Geneva.

As it turns out this trip to Europe is totally different than any others we have taken. Lucian was studying world history and asked if we could see some of the sites. We have never bothered ourselves with the World Wars and the impact they had on Europe, or the sufferings of Jews (gays and women with mouths that call these guys out) and all of the other outcasts. Now with all of the hate that is going on in the US these issues are becoming relevant.

Our trip started, on Monday. I had reserved a flight for all of us to fly from CA on Wed, with a flight for us to fly from Vancouver to LAX on Tues afternoon. I thought there would be plenty of time to get from the ferry to the airport on Tues, but after 2 ferries in a row being late, I was not so sure. We decided to take the ferry to Vancouver on Mon, stay in a hotel, fly Tues to LA then from LA to Germany on Wed. Justin met us with Lucian on Tues.

Wed morning was like the usual morning of flying to an international destination. Lucian hasn’t been so far so this was a little new for him.

First stop in Europe was Frankfurt. We have flown in and of Frankfurt several times but have never stayed over so really didn’t know anything about it. I’m a bit surprised at ourselves for ignoring Frankfurt!

Our flight was super late into Frankfurt so we dropped our bags in our room and went out walking, I was starving.

Dale and I decided to go the right on the main street from the hotel and after walking thru green spaces found the Opera House. The restaurants just outside of the Opera House were way too fancy for the likes of us. Then, we by chance wandered down a side street, later learned that it was eat row or something like that. Rows of outdoor restaurants. We stopped at a little market/restaurant and found that nearly everything was gluten free. The owner told us that we should have the frankfurters, after all we were in Frankfurt. Sounded reasonable and tasted fabulous.

After an early night to bed, we had breakfast then got ready to do the Rick Steves city walk to orient ourselves. We bypassed the Junkies and the Red-Light areas, as we were not ready to encounter that.

It was fun, ducking into churches, watching, and listening to the local street performers play Vivaldi on accordions or dance and do acrobatics on the street. Those are experiences that just don’t happen everywhere.

We went looking for dinner as recommended by Rick Steves but the restaurant was closed for remodeling. We then asked some locals for a place without tourists, who recommended a restaurant that mostly locals eat at. And it was, we were the only ones who seemed to be from another planet.

After a dinner of sausages, sauerkraut and potato salad we were tired and happy.

Last Day; London

 One last day for this trip, before flying back to the states, and what a wonderful trip it has been.

I’d tried to get tickets for Harry Potter but couldn’t so we planned the next best thing, High Tea at Kensington Palace. Both boys love High Tea and where better than at a real palace.

It was Bank Day so everyone was out and about!

We started out by walking to Buckingham Palace so the boys could see where the king lives (or is supposed to live) and where the queen lived. We didn’t see the changing of the guard, nor did King Charles come out to wave at us, but we did walk along the bicycle race where people were riding for a cause. I’ve already forgotten the cause, but lots of people were riding on all sorts of bikes and even scooters, some with boom boxes and some with racing bikes.

The boys had more fun climbing the sculpture of Queen Victoria, along with lots of other people, and they did achieve their goal of climbing in the boat.

We then walked to Hamley’s, a 5-story toy store, with every toy possible. They have various toy demonstrations going on so there is lots of stuff, lots of action, lots of buzz. The boys got caught up with the remote-control cars. We didn’t even really get to see everything on the top floor but just as well, as we got out with our credit cards intact.

I thought we had to get across the city to Kensington Palace by 2pm and it was 1-hour away by foot so this was the perfect time to ride the double-decker bus. We were able to catch it just as it was starting its route so we all got upstairs, front row seats. Boys thought that they were hot stuff.

Well getting to Kensington was more complicated as Google led us down a road next to the one to the palace. I didn’t catch it until we were about ½ way down the street, so we had to go back to the main road and take the next street. By the time we got to Kensington we were late but I wasn’t too worried about the tea.

As it turned out, our tea was set for 4pm, we were really early, but there were lots of tables available. The tea was everything we’d hoped. Dale and I had champagne, then tea while each boy had 2 pots of tea. We left fat and happy.

What a trip!!!

London with 10-year-olds, The White Tower

 

Today was the day for the Tower of London. We were not sure how much time the kids would want to spend there but we figured we’d play this one by ear.

1^st stop was the Crown Jewels. This is what the boys really wanted to see.  We looked at the jewels from 1 side and then the other. Emilio loved the Orb and they both loved the crowns and jewels. They both loved the gold and silver platters, tureens and other serving pieces. Dale explained to the boys how he’d actually bought the huge Cullinan diamond for me, but then lost it, alas!

From the Crown Jewels we went to the White Tower. The Tower is where the royal family lived for a time. The tower is fun as there are displays for every age. Of course, Fynn had to sit on the Royal Pot! The top floor is a kid friendly area with experiments in archery, sword cutting, and shooting.

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-story-of-the-tower-of-london/#gs.0hdpf1

After lunch we went into the Royal apartments, saw the carvings in the stones by people imprisoned there and the original apartments. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and were followed by a Yoeman Warder, locking everything behind us.

We’d eaten a huge late lunch at the tower café, which by the way, serves excellent food, so we had dinner in our room of leftover cheeses and sausage, bread and wine in our room.

 

 

 

 

Ever Onward; Paris and on to London

By the time we got into Paris and our motel, it was really quite late, like after 1 am but, the boys revived after seeing the room. The motel was like 1 big Pac-Man game, and in our room, we had a large bed, plus 2 sets of bunk beds, each bunk with its own sliding doors. So, boys were bouncing back and forth between beds and opening and closing the sliding doors.

Morning came too soon. The train for London was leaving at 4pm and we needed to be at the train station 2 hours in advance. This left little time for the city.

When we were in Paris 2 years ago, we had a wonderful picnic at the Eiffel Tower. We knew we had little time to tour but figured we could at least have a picnic. We found the Rue Cle, a pedestrian only street with many food stores, and bought cheese, baguette, sausage and a bottle of French wine. I’d brought a table cloth, napkins, plates and flatware for this big event. The boys said they didn’t really want to go to the top of the tower so we had our picnic and went on to the train station.

We got into London and dropped our bags at the hotel then took off by foot. The hotel was close to the one we normally get on the South Bank, Southwark, so we know our way around.

After watching a street performer along the Thames our goal was Big Ben.  We’d thought about riding on the London Eye but it wasn’t going and kids didn’t know if they really wanted to go on it. I suspect they would have gotten bored.

We stopped for Fish and Chips but the Fynn said it wasn’t Fish and Chips but rather, (as per the menu) Cod and Chips. We explained that Cod was fish but he wasn’t having it, so passed on London’s specialty.

The bed looked really good after a super long day.

One last day in Modena

 
We had a fairly early morning, starting out by walking to the Maserati Factory. This tour was actually easy to get tickets to, and I highly recommend it.

The tour goes thru every stage of the production, in this case the M20, a beautiful sports car. Both Dale and I could see ourselves driving this car. I think we need a larger garage though and lots more storms will help with the money.

The tour starts in the show room, then you walk to the old, original buildings in the back. The exterior of the buildings cannot be changed but the interiors have been refurbished to make way for modernization. There are pathways that go up and down the areas so that you can see the vehicle in the various stages, from a frame to the electronic instillation, the instillation of the various panels, and areas for all kinds of testing for each car. There is also an experimental area, experimenting with new motors and bodies.

We were not able to shoot photos so we must take the memories as we have them.

From the Maserati Factory, we walked to where we remembered the Balsamic Vinegar store to be located. This 25-year-old Balsamic from Enoteca Ducale is the best I’ve found in Modena. 2 years ago, I’d bought several different brands and taste tested them with our grandson, Elias. We determined that this was the best.

We didn’t remember that it was so far down the road, but we found it and I bought vinegar for myself and those who I promised to bring it to. This will be Christmas, birthday, and everything else for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, too many family members love this vinegar. Additionally, I was out of the white balsamic and olive oil with truffles so it was time to load up!

At a park in Bologna

Now it was off to Bologna for the train ride to Paris.