Verdun area - any ‘off the trail’ things to see?

[MrEd]

I am travelling to Saarlouis soon, and will be stopping at Verdun and Arras on my way home as I haven’t been to either area.

I just wondered, apart from the obvious places is there anywhere any one would recommend I don’t miss? I have perhaps an afternoon in each place so won’t have a huge amount of time.

Off the beaten path type stuff is fine aswell, or private small museum/collections/militaria type brocante shops/hidden small memorials in fields etc  

I will take my major holts battlefield guide with me and I am definitely going to go to the Ossuary at Douaumont and the Arras Memorials.

 

Shame I won’t have more time, but I will be on a fairly tight schedule  

thanks

ed

[Michelle Young]

@Christina Holstein should be able to help with Verdun. As for Arras, I’d recommend getting up onto the area around Neuville Vitasse Rd and Heninel Croisilles Road. Good walks with incredible views around there. 

[MrEd]

Thanks Michelle

[JasonMc]

In Verdun I found Fleury Village a very interesting stop that could easily be overlooked. Apart from the other more obvious stops the site where Henry Gunther was killed is a short drive away - quite isolated but and I enjoyed visiting it being one of the last places on the line to hear the news of the armistice. The main sites though are the Ossuary and maybe Fort Vaux nearby. In that small are theres many places and 3-4 hours will see plenty. 

Meuse Argonne Cemetery is close by also and if you have time it's well worth an hour

 

In Arras centre the CWGC centre and the underground tunnels are both places I've meant to visit many times but keep missing out. Vimy Ridge is unmissable a short drive north even though I doubt there will be guided tours this time of the year. I think I was there one year in January and a security guard was giving out printed information sheets.

 

Edited 30 November , 2022 by JasonMc

[MrEd]

Thanks Jason 

[Christina Holstein]

There's loads of stuff 'off the trail' if you've got time. Fort Souville is a good place - batteries, Pamard Casemates, a unique gun turret and an interesting walk around the ditch. 

As you haven't much time, I suggest taking the forest path from Fort Douaumont to Douaumont village across the glacis - massively shelled. Alternatively, the path from the fort to the 74th Infantry memorial close by. 

If you had more time, I'd suggest the  Ouvrage de la Falouse, about 3 miles south of Verdun.

Christina

[MrEd]

Thanks Christina will look into both of those, on my way south today I managed to swing by vermelles and the Hohenzollern redoubt - my great great uncle fell here with the east Surreys  on 13th October 1915 so it was nice to just take in the landscape, pay my respects at Quarry cemetery -  the mist and the cold felt very fitting, mood wise.

 

Edited 1 December , 2022 by MrEd

[Christina Holstein]

That's a great photo. Really catches the mood.

Christina

[Fattyowls]

I think it is a great photo too; it's a quite tricky place to photograph, at least to me. Thanks for posting it.

Pete.

[Michelle Young]

I’m missing the Loos battlefields, thank you for the photo. Quarry is a favourite place to make a brew and to sit and think……

[Fattyowls]

I can't speak for Christina but I'm missing the Verdun battlefields; if you take any photos I for one would love to see them. For me the first stop would be Douaumont because you can see the whole battlefield more or less from up there. If you look to the east you can see what was Germany in 1914, it's why what's under your feet is there. Have a great trip.

Pete.

 

[Christina Holstein]

The top of Fort Vaux is the best place to get the view eastwards over the 1914 German frontier. Tree growth on Ft Douaumont is starting to block the view.

Christina 

[Bennett]

  Consider exploring the forests and trenches around the destroyed villages (listed on maps) but do take a good map and compass as it is easy to become disoriented. On my visits there was always a haunting sometimes anxious feeling during my walks not in evidence among the peaceful fields on the Somme. A feeling perhaps that the land had never made peace with itself. Many trenches and relics of the battlefields so be careful.

   But time passes. The last time I was at the French Memorial a busload of German kids pulled up at the same time as a bus full of French teenagers. They were gay and laughing and seemed most interested in checking each other out, quite oblivious to what their ancestors had done to each other in 1916. Ah youth. 

[healdav]

9 hours ago, Bennett said:

  Consider exploring the forests and trenches around the destroyed villages (listed on maps) but do take a good map and compass as it is easy to become disoriented. On my visits there was always a haunting sometimes anxious feeling during my walks not in evidence among the peaceful fields on the Somme. A feeling perhaps that the land had never made peace with itself. Many trenches and relics of the battlefields so be careful.

   But time passes. The last time I was at the French Memorial a busload of German kids pulled up at the same time as a bus full of French teenagers. They were gay and laughing and seemed most interested in checking each other out, quite oblivious to what their ancestors had done to each other in 1916. Ah youth. 

Be careful if you do that. Parts of the battlefield are an army firing range (to their eternal shame), and I would be most surprised if you don't come across UXB on your walk.

[MrEd]

unfortunately I ran out of time and didn’t get to visit anything further, and I only just made the train home after a long drive with awful traffic from saarbrucken. Shame but never mind. I will be going again so will try then!

thanks all for your input 

Ed