REMEMBRANCE ❘ WAR SITES OF FRANCE
“YOU MAY CHOOSE TO GO OFF THE BEATEN TRACK TO ENJOY SMALLER MUSEUMS, PASSIONATELY CURATED ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET”
is an ever-expanding and ever-improving roster of museums, cemeteries and more to bring the heat of battle, historic context and personal tales of bravery, tragedy and hope to life in memoriam. Focus your plans on the departments of Pas-de- Calais, Somme, Meuse, Aisne, Ardennes and Marne, always plan ahead and don’t try to fit too much in – there are dozens of what the French call ‘incontournables’ (unmissables), so it’s important to research your preferences.
From top: The Verdun Memorial; the Somme 1916
Museum at Albert; the Thiepval Memorial; soldiers’ boots on
display at Les Poilus de Verdun, Museum of the Guardhouse; the Caverne du Dragon in Oulches-la-Vallée-Foulon
The major players that give sweeping contextualisation and visceral, in-your-face tech and noise include the Musée de la Grande Guerre (Meaux, Seine-et-Marne,
www.museedelagrandeguerre.eu); Historial de La Grande Guerre (Péronne, Somme,
www.historial.fr/en); and Mémorial de Verdun (Meuse,
memorial-verdun.fr). At the latter, running until December 31, the exhibition ‘Art/Enfer - Creating in Verdun 1914-1918’ showcases artworks made in the hell of battle or behind front lines, with paintings, sculptures, music, writings, drawings and more created by both French and German soldiers. We also recommend The Musée du Chemin des Dames (
www.chemindesdames.fr) in Oulches-la- Vallée-Foulon, the most-visited museum in Aisne; and the Caverne du Dragon (
www.caverne-du-dragon. com), an underground tactical stronghold from where you can explore the Chemin des Dames Memorial Trail. In Arras, Pas-de-Calais, don a hard hat and descend the evocative Wellington Quarry dug by Kiwi sappers (
en.carrierewellington.com).
80 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Aug/Sep 2022
On subsequent trips you may choose to go farther off the beaten track to enjoy smaller museums, often passionately curated on a shoestring budget, or borne of personal, intimate collections of memorabilia and artefacts. These include the Somme 1916 Museum (
www.musee-somme-1916.eu) in Albert, Somme. New in Meuse is Les Poilus de Verdun, Museum of the Guardhouse, a museum about the poilus (the nickname for simple infantrymen from rustic backgrounds), which is housed in the former guardhouse located in front of the Underground Citadel of Verdun. Visitors will discover the private collection of Camille Tridon: drawings, photographs, objects and costumes of the poilus. A store selling military antiques will be available, as well as a small restaurant (
www.lespoilusdeverdun.fr). Among the many vast and poignant cemeteries at which to pay your respects to the fallen, there are some spectacular sights: iconic Vimy Ridge near Lens (Pas-de-Calais,
www.warmuseum.ca/the-battle-of- vimy-ridge), built to honour Canadian soldiers; Douaumont Ossuary in Meuse, a stone monument containing the unidentified bones of at least 130,000 French and German soldiers killed at Verdun (www.
meusetourism.com) and, in the Somme, the Thiepval Memorial honouring the 72,194 British and South Africans (
www.visit-somme.com/great-war/memorials- symbolic-international-war).
However you wish to honour the heroes of the Great
War, there are sites across this region of France dedicated to all the nationalities who served. FT
CONTACTS Meuse:
www.lameuse.fr Pas-de-Calais:
www.visit-pas-de-calais.com Aisne:
www.jaimelaisne.com Somme:
www.visit-somme.com Marne:
www.tourisme-en-champagne.co.uk Ardennes:
http://gb.ardennes.com Hauts-de-France:
www.french-weekendbreaks.co.uk
IMAGES © JAN VETTER, SOMME TOURISME, HORIZON BLEU, FACEBOOK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
