Link to PHOTO ALBUM:
Verdun, France was the site of the longest-lasting battle of the First World War. It is said to be 300 days and 300,000 lives, plus 400,00o wounded.
Walking around the Verdun Battlefield one sees remnants of craters and trenches even though the war was over 100 years ago. There are monuments to many people and things, including the towns and villages that disappeared into rubble.
The Mémorial de Verdun, the Verdun Memorial, shows a collection of weapons, personal artifacts, and historic memorabilia from the period. This is one of the most somber museums I have been to. The visit was on a somber, rainy, dark and cold day, which was fitting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdun_Memorial
The Ossuaire de Douaumont, is a monument to the dead, especially the unidentified remains. There is a room under the monument that you can look through a window and see piles of bone. The The field of crosses represents just a tiny fraction of those buried here. The remains are from French and German soldiers. The monument is meant to remind one of an artillery shell sitting in a field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douaumont_Ossuary
Fort de Douaumont provides a look into the underground, including the workings of a cannon that can be raised and lowered. The grounds still show the bomb craters, and what is left of the gun emplacements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Douaumont
I had not even thought of this area a few days before. I was looking at possible routes, and thinking that heading from the coast to the east of France then down through the east and center sounded good. Then someone suggested Luxembourg, a country I was not likely to visit in the future. That brought me to looking in this area. During the search I saw something about the Verdun Battlefield. That was something I knew about. I had to go. I found a "house on a working farm" for a good price. Think, open the door, see cows. Close door, smell cows. This was familiar ground for me, and it was a good stay.
Traveling in this area, one can find monument after monument, church after church, cemetery after cemetery. There is no end of places and battles and towns that we have all read about at one time or another. Well, for those of us that are old enough to have read history. This particular area is heavy on the WW-I history. Tomorrow I head towards Bastogne, Belgium. WW-II history is more in my line of interest.
Not in Verdun, but I really wanted in, but it was locked. The Stained Glass Windows looked awesome from the outside.
SteamPunk Gas Mask. This was probably never used and was just an experiment. It is one of only two photos I was able to bring myself to take in the rather somber museum. 
Even the actual Flamethrower looks a bit SteamPunk. 
The Ossuary inside. 
The Ossuary outside. 
The mechanics to raise and lower the cannon. 
The Cannon that was raised and lowered. 
This just looks like it was poked in the eye. 
