St.Mihiel France

Travelled:234km

Stay:Bourg et Comin: picnic area next to Aisne canal N49.3886 E3.6546

Visited:Toul wine route, St.Mihiel, Camp Attila

It was a very fresh stroll around the train station area of Toul. There were predominantly larger and stylish homes here and the station was huge. 

We then headed off along the Toul winery trail. We parked up in Bruley which is a typical Toulois village with its wine cellars and houses made from the stone. 

No boulangerie? No problem...mobile boulangerie will come to you.

Some old wine presses.

Flowers make everything look pretty

Even the water pump.

We walked up the church and hillside chapel. 

As we neared St.Mihiel we stopped in the forest to learn about the WWI battles that took place here.

 There were French and German front line trenches and a memorial cross.Paying our respects to the thousands who lost their lives here. 

German front line trench



French front line trench

I’m standing at the French trench and Mark at the German’s...not much between them

Not far away we went to have a look at St.Michel church built in 16thC.

A beautiful choir

Bullet holes..evidence of the war

 At the end of WWI in 1918 the Battle of St.Mihiel was fought here with American troops helping to liberate the town. 

100year anniversary on the 19th September

On our way to Reims we travelled along an ancient Roman road and stopped to have lunch at Camp Atilla, which is the site of the oldest Gallic fortifications in Northern Europe. Built in 80BC the legend is that the battle against the Huns took place here. 

Aerial view...thanks google

We now travelled through vast fields, many of them growing sweet beet used to supplement the demand for sugar. 

As we have visited Reims before, our sole purpose for this trip was to find a new mattress for Bluey. 

Unfortunately the mattress needs to be especially made and so we have made the required inquiries for next year. It was now time to drive to a spot for tonight and so we ventured towards a canal. As it turned out we parked on a point where 2 canals meet - Canal Lateral Aisne and Canal l’Oise a l’Aisne. The weather had changed again so we hunkered down in Bluey and called it a night.

Reims and WWI battlefields

Travelled:71km
Visited:Reims, WWI battlefields
Stay:Laon- free parking, no services. GPS N49°33.779' E3°37.786'

We spent the morning walking around Reims. We strolled along the outer boulevard to Mars Gate built in early 3rd Century.

 We then passed a few more interesting buildings including the birth place of Jean-Baptist de la Salle who founded  the Christian Schools Brothers of which our son Tom attended one of his schools. 

We ventured out to the Basilca of Saint Remi before walking back to Bluey along the canal.

On our way to Laon we drove through the WWI battlefields and stopped at various points and read about the battles that had taken place. 

We arrived in Laon and we were happy to find a spot in the dedicated motorhome parking area along the medieval wall with a view of the valley. After dinner we had a walk in the town and admired the lit cathedral. We are looking forward to further exploring the town tomorrow.