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Remembered Today:

Verdun, March 2019


kelly

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Good evening all

 

A colleague and I have decided we want to tour Verdun next March

 

Travelling from Lincoln visa the tunnel can anyone tell me whit travel experience tell me how long we will be driving

 

Ask because if we need to factor in a mid-point stay on the going and return  journey I'd sooner start the planning process now

 

Regards

 

Garry

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14 minutes ago, nigelcave said:

About 3 and a half hours should do it - so manageable in a day from Lincoln (albeit a long day).

Hi Nigel

 

Thanks for the reply, so look to drive over a long day then

 

Garry

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I don't know how you will be fixed for time, but I virtually guarantee you won't regret stopping off at Main de Massiges in the Champagne en route.

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Verdun can be quite oppressive - I do not know how long you are going for, of course. Visiting the left bank, the Butte de Vauquois and some of the AEF's battlefield (and taking in a visit to the huge Aemrican cemetery at Romagne) as well as possibly heading southwards toward Eparges and St Mihiel would all be recommended if you have the time. Would still recommend Horne's The Price of Glory as the best single volume account of the battle(s); and there are also Christina Holstein's excellent series of books on Verdun in the Battleground Europe series and now Maarten Otte's on the AEF and the Meuse-Argoone Offensive 1918.

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14 hours ago, nigelcave said:

Verdun can be quite oppressive - I do not know how long you are going for, of course. Visiting the left bank, the Butte de Vauquois and some of the AEF's battlefield (and taking in a visit to the huge Aemrican cemetery at Romagne) as well as possibly heading southwards toward Eparges and St Mihiel would all be recommended if you have the time. Would still recommend Horne's The Price of Glory as the best single volume account of the battle(s); and there are also Christina Holstein's excellent series of books on Verdun in the Battleground Europe series and now Maarten Otte's on the AEF and the Meuse-Argoone Offensive 1918.

Basically, you can spend the rest of your life exploring the Verdun and St Mihiel and Argonne battlefields.Scaling back from that you will have to decide what you want to see. Most guidebooks concentrate on the 'tourist drag' of Douaumon, Vaux, Ossuaire, Mémorial, Flirey, etc. so it will pay you to do some research and decide what really interest you.

The local guides mostly concentrate on the tourist bit as that is what most people want.

If you are interested, have a look at my website:  http://www.luxembourg-battles.lu/

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19 hours ago, ServiceRumDiluted said:

I don't know how you will be fixed for time, but I virtually guarantee you won't regret stopping off at Main de Massiges in the Champagne en route.

Hi

 

Thanks for your input, I'll check it out

 

Regards

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18 hours ago, nigelcave said:

Verdun can be quite oppressive - I do not know how long you are going for, of course. Visiting the left bank, the Butte de Vauquois and some of the AEF's battlefield (and taking in a visit to the huge Aemrican cemetery at Romagne) as well as possibly heading southwards toward Eparges and St Mihiel would all be recommended if you have the time. Would still recommend Horne's The Price of Glory as the best single volume account of the battle(s); and there are also Christina Holstein's excellent series of books on Verdun in the Battleground Europe series and now Maarten Otte's on the AEF and the Meuse-Argoone Offensive 1918.

Hi

 

I think we will be looking at 3 to 4 days on the ground, do you know of a decent hotel or b&b, we would also want to be close to somewhere where we could get an evening meal

 

Regards

 

Regards

4 hours ago, healdav said:

Basically, you can spend the rest of your life exploring the Verdun and St Mihiel and Argonne battlefields.Scaling back from that you will have to decide what you want to see. Most guidebooks concentrate on the 'tourist drag' of Douaumon, Vaux, Ossuaire, Mémorial, Flirey, etc. so it will pay you to do some research and decide what really interest you.

The local guides mostly concentrate on the tourist bit as that is what most people want.

If you are interested, have a look at my website:  http://www.luxembourg-battles.lu/

Hi

Many thanks for your input, will have a look

 

Regards

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19 hours ago, kelly said:

Hi

 

I think we will be looking at 3 to 4 days on the ground, do you know of a decent hotel or b&b, we would also want to be close to somewhere where we could get an evening meal

 

Regards

 

Regards

Hi

Many thanks for your input, will have a look

 

Regards

The best thing for hotels is to google Verdun, and follow the link to hotels.

There is no specific list of Verdun hotels, only the Meuse département, so be sure to make sure you check exactly where they are. The furthest is some 60 km from Verdun itself.

On the list, I have heard good reports of the Le Village Gaulois, but have never stayed there. I have stayed at the Hotel Orchidée which is the nearest to the battlefields, and they have a restaurant, but it isn't very good! - at least not when I last had to eat there.

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On ‎22‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:57, healdav said:

The best thing for hotels is to google Verdun, and follow the link to hotels.

There is no specific list of Verdun hotels, only the Meuse département, so be sure to make sure you check exactly where they are. The furthest is some 60 km from Verdun itself.

On the list, I have heard good reports of the Le Village Gaulois, but have never stayed there. I have stayed at the Hotel Orchidée which is the nearest to the battlefields, and they have a restaurant, but it isn't very good! - at least not when I last had to eat there.

Good morning and Hi

 

Thanks for your input, I'll have a look

 

Regards

 

Garry

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For some strange reason the Hotel Prunelia which I have stayed at several times isn't on the list. It has a reasonable restaurant, and there is a better one a couple of hundred metres away.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Verdun is surprisingly badly served for hotels, the best of which is probably the Hotel de Montaulban in the centre of town. Good restaurants are also few and far between, sadly.

 

In addition to the battlefield at Verdun, I’d definitely recommend stopping at Main de Massiges, and a visit to Vauquois and the Argonne, en route. And a day on the St Mihiel salient is also worthwhile.

 

Bon voyage.

 

Tom

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pros and cons of March:

 

1. It can be cold, wet and miserable: and miserable in the Verdun area is very much so.

 

2. It can be snowy.

 

3. Later in March is better than earlier, because you get more daylight hours.

 

4. You can see more, as the undergrowth is probably at its least dense - however, everything off piste is likely to be very muddy.

 

5. Read as much as you can on the battles around Verdun, left bank as well as the right and over to the Woevre Plain (e.g. include Eparges). The latter and the Butte de Vauquois are both worth time.

 

6. When you read have a good map(s) in front of you. You need to understand the battlefield's topography if you are to understand the evolution of the battle. Especially on the right bank and some sites on the left, such as Mort Homme and Cote 304, the forestry policy post war makes it very difficult to appreciate what is going on and where things are when you arena the ground today.

 

7. Attempt at least one big walk off the main, well trodden routes to enable you to have at least an inkling of what faced the soldier on the ground.

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