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Clémentine's 12th birthday

I'm falling behind. Life happens too fast, doesn't it?
Last month Clémentine turned 12. Here are a few photos of the big event.

 Between playing on the computer

 Or learning the Ukelele

Did that sound right?

 This kid is a pistol

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Celebrating 101 years! Franck 87 and Annouck 14

Wow- Already the first day of Jr. High

Time flies-the years pass by and the kids get bigger. Today, Clémentine started her first day of Jr. High. She has been so excited leading up to this all summer.

In the trenches at Massiges

The highlight, and one of the inspirations for this trip was a visit to the trenches of Massiges.  These trenches have been recently been reconstructed to resemble the trenches during World War 1.  It is still a work in progress.  Signs indicated it was not up to safety standards for public visits...though I doubt it met safety standards in 1914 either.

Côte 304-Hill 304

Hill 304 was the site of one of the bloodiest and longest lasting battles of WW1.

Like most of these battlefields, the trees were gone during the battles.  

You can see how the trees have grown back in the trenches.

The artillery fire was so fierce that the top of the hill was lowered by 4 meters- a little over 13 feet.

The latest battle fought there was between Anne and Jean-Loup-Who found this ladder?

Varennes-en-Argonne

A short detour to the French Revolution.  We stopped where Louis XVI was captured while trying to flee to Austrian controlled Belgium.  He had been recognized the night before by a shopkeeper in Sainte-Menehould, who recognized the King's face from the coins. The king should have kept a lower profile.

Fast forwarding back to WW1-Varennes-en-Argonne was later left in ruins after WW1.  There is a memorial there built by the State of Pennsylvania honoring those Pennsylvanian volunteers serving during WW1.

Abri du Kronprinz

Prior to and probably during the battle for Verdun in WW1,  Kronprinz Wilhelm used these bunkers to help plan their attack.



They lived here and were able to see or easily access the potential battlefields.












The kids had a lot of fun exploring these hobbit homes.

Episcopal Palace and the Cathedral of Verdun

We started our last day in Verdun with a visit to the  Bishop's palace.

Inside people were just beginning to arrive for work.  

Today it serves to promote peace in the world.

This is the second time we've found pieces of the Berlin wall.  The others were in Fulton, Missouri. I think this might be a part of the worlds biggest jigsaw puzzle.  

Tranchée des Baionnettes and L'ossuaire de Douaumont

Bayonet trenches

After the battle this site was discovered with only the bayonets and rifles sticking out of the earth.  When they excavated the rifles, a body was found beneath the each rifle.  What happened here will never be known.  An American benefactor Mr. Rand had the monument built over the trench...






...with a small cross marking the location of each of the unknown soldiers found in the trench.

The Ossuary 

Inside this building is housed a cinema like no other in the world. Located behind the walls of the cinema are the bones of the unknown combatants of the battle of Verdun in WW1.

T

I got my workout for the day... 
The kids started climbing to the top of this tower instead of looking at the museum exhibits. I had to climb the stairs two at a time to catch them, since they were having a bit too much fun...there were signs saying to respect the silence...they weren't.

Though mostly crosses, there are also gravestones for the muslims that fought in the war as well.

The destroyed Village of Douaumont

This small chapelle was built where an entire village used to stand.  Duoaumont was completely destroyed along with 12 other villages in the Verdun region.

They have placed markers all along the roads to indicate where each building had been located.