Liberation Tour 2024: Day 6 - a two-cathedral day

 We were on the move today, leaving Caen and heading east to Verdun.

We stopped for lunch in Amiens and got to go to the cathedral there. That place is impressive and stunning. It’s so big, two of Notre Dame in Paris would fit inside. I could spend hours looking at all the paintings and carvings and stained glass. Alas, we didn’t have that long. One of the draws of Amiens, besides its artwork and size, is its relic. It houses the skull of John the Baptist.

Back on the bus, we headed down the road to Riems, which isn’t pronounced at all like it’s spelled. It has additional letters and sounds more like you’re clearing your throat than like you’re saying a word. Anyway, Riems is home to the Museum of the Surrender, the place where the Germans agreed to surrender to the Allies to end World War II in Europe. The actual room, table and chairs are there. The walls are still covered with the same maps and notes that have stayed intact since 1945. Although this museum could be considered old school, it’s pretty impressive that it hasn’t been torn apart in the last 80 years.

It’s a quiet place but an important one. Being able to see the actual place where such a momentous event occurred makes you stop and think about everything that led to that moment - all the command decisions, orders given, battles fought, buildings destroyed, soldiers killed.

We went across town to the cathedral, another impressive edifice that towers over the surrounding buildings. This cathedral suffered quite a bit during both World Wars I and II. In World War II, someone thought it would be funny to shoot one of the angels that adorn its outside. They shot through both of her wings. This wasn’t the first time this angel had been wounded, according to cathedral-reims.fr. During World War I, she was decapitated during a fire at the cathedral. Her head broke into more than 20 pieces, the ncregister.com said. She was repaired and reinstalled in 1926.

This is a picture I took of Riems Cathedral in 2022.

Tonight we’re in the city of Verdun. This was the site of the Battle of Verdun during World War I. The Germans tried to capture the town several times but failed.More than 305,000 were killed during the 10 months of fighting over the city, according to memorial-verdun.fr.

“Almost three-quarters of the French army fought at Verdun in 1916. It was a Franco-German battle but it also involved colonial forces. The sheer scope and violence of the fighting here made it one of the major battles of the First World War. In fact, in people’s minds, it came to symbolise the Great War, a culmination of battlefield brutality. It summed up every aspect of the Great War and turned Verdun into the most iconic of all places of remembrance,” the website said.

One of the memorials in Verdun lighted up after dark.

After supper, some of us walked around a little bit. Our hotel is on the river Meuse. Across the river, the town is hosting a party tonight. I can hear music. My room has a balcony that overlooks the river. I’ve never had a balcony room, let alone one with a view like this!

The view from my window.

Tomorrow we’ll stop at the Meuse Argonne Cemetery and a few other places as we make our way to Nancy.

I think he needs a haircut. This gargoyle was on the back side of the Cathedral at Riems.