The Road to verdun

After Belgium was occupied in August 1914, the Germans got busy. Already in September they could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. They stood only 50km outside of Paris. The Germans invaders however, were repelled after several major battles of the Somme and Marne rivers. The Germans were massively and suddenly brought to a halt at Ieper / Ypers, and the war evolved into a trench war. Poison gas was used in copious amounts on these frontlines, causing brutal physical damage to the troops on both sides, but it helped little. The front refused to move.
The Great War, as it was called, or WWI was the nastiest war ever. Soldiers on both sides, with empty eyes, killing each other without really knowing why. They would have much preferred to be at home with their wives and children, but warmongering leaders and braindead Generals kept them in a cold iron grip, repeatedly gaining and losing a few square meters of mud, in the middle of nowhere. Between 1914 and 1918, the Western Front stretched broadly from West Flanders in southern Belgium, to Verdun in France, and from there down towards the Swiss Alps. 350 km of barbed wire, mutilated bodies, mud, blood and trenches.



No Man’s Land
Through southern Belgium, we rode along small country roads, through forests and fields. Towns with strange names hovered constantly over the retina. Everyone had a memorial of The Great War in their gardens. It is as though the entire area is just one big No-Man's Land. I really tried to structure what I saw and experienced, but I found only wild confusion. The whole area is characterized by the fact that the trenches were constantly moving backwards and forwards. Which town should I ride towards? I drifted in 4th gear along the small roads, and followed the front as best I could.



Somme & Marne
Outside the town of Beaumont Hamel, I found a memorial for a division from Newfoundland, who perished here. I walked around in the trenches and looked out over the battered landscape, which was perforated with craters from grenades and constant shelling. I drove along the incredibly beautiful roads flanking the Somme and the Marne Rivers, and ended up in the city of Saint Quentin, after a long day in the saddle. An evening ride through northern France is an absolute pleasure. From Saint-Quentin, I took the road to Sedan, and followed the River Meuse to Verdun. I had now left The Great War behind, replaced by the stunning scenery and good roads in the area. I was now in the champagne region, and that's not so bad at all. I took a detour down to Epernay to try to find something else to think about, and right enough; the Champagne Route IS truly life-affirming. But, like Obelix, when you fall into the cauldron, you need to know more......