Yeah, in Verdun ! But also at Bar le Duc . It's not the first destination that comes to mind when, Parisians, you say to yourself "let's go for the weekend! ". We are thinking more of Normandy or the Châteaux de La Loire… Remember already at the end of spring, we had decided to go to the North, to discover the Côte d’Opale. This time, we took the eastern highway. Direction Bar-Le-Duc, then Verdun.
Because I wanted History . With a capital H. This is one of the places I wanted the children to discover. It's important, I think, and they're old enough now.
So we packed up on a Friday in September at the end of the afternoon, then 3h drive to join one of the most charming guest rooms:
"Au levrier d'argent" (we had the "granny" room and its neighbor the "Nicolas" room, both super comfortable and very quiet)
The owners are absolutely lovely. We even had the right to a small visit "reserved for customers" on Saturday morning to discover the "Upper Town" of Bar-Le-Duc, its history, its architecture, its anecdotes. All this under a magnificent sun. It was perfect.
What to do in Bar-Le-Duc with children? The city is to be discovered on foot with the family, passing by the Tourist Office to pick up a treasure hunt "Where is Firmin? (for children aged 8-12)
Namely:the upper town is classified as a protected area. We discover accessible or even well-hidden treasures! Do not hesitate to open the doors to Bar-Le-Duc, because there are fabulous "treasures" to discover such as this seigneurial press dating from the 15th century:
St. Peter's Square and St. Stephen's Church
incredible inner courtyards:
The castle from where you can observe the more modern lower town of Bar-Le-Duc:
Where to have lunch in Bar-le-Duc? To change the minds of the youngest:mini-golf at the "O Club Gourmand" restaurant
The gourmet specialty of Bar-Le-Duc :redcurrant jam seeded with goose feather (yes yes), which you will find in particular at Maison Dutriez
To reach Verdun from Bar-Le-Duc, take the Sacred Way. Those which during the 1st World War allowed soldiers to reach the front... 3 hours of walking minimum... Fear in the bellies.
Visiting Verdun with the kids
There are obviously several sites to visit. For this, I advise you to buy the Pass Battlefield to facilitate your entries and budget management. Indeed, you will be able to visit the 5 essential places:the memorial of Verdun, the Fort and the Ossuary of Douaumont, the Fort of Vaux and the Citadel Underground (which is in Verdun itself)
Adult PASS (from 16 years old): €25 (instead of €34)
Child PASS (8-16 years old): €15
Free for children under 8.
For our part, we started with a visit to the Underground Citadel .
As soon as you arrive at the entrance to the Citadel, you immediately feel the special atmosphere of this place. The Citadel can be visited in small "wagonnets" (note that we are 1,000 places from the attraction, but this makes the "journey" more fun for children in particular), we thus circulate by 9 maximum in the dark and the scenographies are triggered as we pass, telling the story of a soldier of the time. We thus discover the galleries, the installations of the time, the organization of "life" under this bombarded land, the difficult conditions and the questions of the officers as to the continuation of the War. We finish the path on foot, to discover the last corridor and emerge in a room reconstituting the ceremony of November 10, 1920 for the choice of the unknown soldier who will be brought back under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
It is a very striking visit, the places being perfectly preserved and the weak lighting makes it possible to well imagine the living conditions at the time.
The Verdun Memorial it's a bit like the "museum" of the 1st World War. I sincerely loved it, we spent long and very rewarding hours there. Arriving early in the morning (at the opening, there was no one, it was perfect)
Very modern, there is all the information on the context, the War (strategy, advanced, etc.), daily life, but also a lot of objects:weapons, vehicles, everyday objects, everything is classified by "chapter", the two camps are perfectly represented and we come across many tourists at the Museum. We add to all this films of the time, photos, poignant letters...
THE essential visit, not tearful nor too frightening (but it's still the War…), but really allowing to realize, to understand and… to move forward without forgetting.
The Douaumont Ossuary is undoubtedly the most famous photo of Verdun with this row of white crosses. It is essential to understand the consequences of the Battle of Verdun.
Again, a lot of emotion. The place is cold. All these names, these words engraved on the walls. We gather there after visiting the museum, because we all now have a good knowledge of the context.
The film projected in the basement is very interesting once again. Take the time to go there, it lasts 20 minutes.
The Fort of Vaux . Barely beyond the landscape so green and so peaceful, we discover there too, as for the Citadel, the context of the lives of the soldiers. Impressive.
To end on a gourmet note, I recommend the Verdun sugared almonds from Maison Braquier. YUM
So, you're going to tell me, don't we come out of such a weekend depressed? Well not even! AH AH AH And yet we had a terrible Sunday (pouring rain and storm)
It is a very green region, nature has taken back its rights, the trees have grown back, surrounding the remains peacefully. I really found it important that the children spend there. I remember a school trip there for my part, it was not done in their schools (preferring Rome…), so I wanted to organize it by ourselves. Just as we will no doubt soon be going to the landing beaches in Normandy.
We will be "celebrating" in a few days the centenary of the armistice, we will say that the timing is perfect to publish this post. If you need more info, an opinion, more details, you know where to find me!
Thanks to the Departmental Tourism Committee of the Meuse for the invitation.
