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The Hell of Verdun

Next year will mark the centennial of the start of World War I. And 2016 will be the centennial of the Battle of Verdun. I visited the Verdun battlefield site (in France) with an excellent local guide, who helped me come up with this expanded description for the new edition of my France guidebook:

The Battle of Verdun (also called the “Battle of 300 Days and Nights”) was fought from February through December of 1916. This was one chapter in a horrific “war of attrition,” in which the leaders of Germany and France decided to wage a fierce battle knowing they would both suffer unprecedented losses…but each calculated that the other would bleed white and drop first.

During the “Hell of Verdun” (hell for troops and hell for locals), Germany and France dropped 60 million shells on each other here. While we have an image of rifle fire and hand-to-hand combat, most of the fighting was about shells bursting into lethal fragments. An estimated 95 percent of the deaths at Verdun were from artillery shrapnel. Shells were fired from as far away as nine miles, with poor accuracy. Death by enemy fire was commonplace…as was death by friendly fire.

Today, soft, forested lands hide the memories of World War I’s longest battle. It’s difficult to imagine today’s lush terrain as it was just a few generations ago: a gray, treeless, crater-filled landscape, smothered in mud and littered with shattered weaponry and body parts as far as the eye could see. But as you visit, it’s good to try.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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Barreling Through Alsace

Those visiting Alsace’s Wine Road (Route du Vin) make a point to try the local wines. And local vintners offer a warm, and liquid, welcome. Here in Eguisheim, my guide, Jean-Claude Werner (another good French/German name in this region where the two cultures have for centuries overlapped), takes me into the cellar of the Emile Beyer winery. Emerging from the fragrant cellar, I’m happily ambushed by enthusiastic travelers who, like me, were sampling wine at Emile Beyer because of our France guidebook.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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The Route du Vin in Alsace

The Route du Vin is the Wine Road of Alsace. This region, between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains, has historically been fought over between France and Germany. The Germans believe the mountains are the natural border, while the French think it’s the river. It’s interesting to think that this is a kind of continental cultural divide — with Romance cultures to the south, and Germanic to the north. Perhaps that explains how every other city here feels like it’s been rebuilt after a terrible war. Using Colmar as a springboard, it’s easy to tour the region.

The Vineyards of Alsace
The Vineyards of Alsace

Alsace’s Wine Road is blanketed with lush vineyards and dotted with charming towns. You can hike, bike, hire a taxi, catch the bus, or join a minibus tour like I did (a half-day for €60).

Adorable Kaysersberg
Adorable Kaysersberg

The Route du Vin is dotted with delicious little towns. Kaysersberg is one of the most charming.

Channeling water power in Alsatian villages
Channeling water power in Alsatian villages

Alsatian villages nestle in valleys on small rivers, which medieval villagers hijacked, broke into canals, and used to power their mills. Today, when you explore these towns, it’s fun to imagine what a blessing water power must have been.

The original gourmet
The original gourmet

This sign marked the mansion of the Kaysersberg gourmet. I never realized the derivation of the word “gourmet”: Each city in a wine region (like Alsace) had a man appointed to rate and price wines, and serve as the middleman between vintners and the wine-drinking public. He facilitated the sale of wine…and knew that having quality food in association with the wine would help. Eventually he became the man with the finest food in town, or the “gourmet.” The actual job of the gourmet survived in Alsace until the 1930s.

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Cutting a Cobble in Colmar

It’s so important to be “heads-up” when you’re traveling. For example, each Tuesday, folk dancers and musicians from a nearby village share their talents on Colmar’s main square. I’m sure there are tourists sitting in their hotel rooms watching TV who would love this fun and free slice of Alsatian culture. They just forgot to ask their hotelier or at the TI if there was anything happening tonight in Colmar.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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Flip-Flopping Colmar: Wurst with Fine Sauces

I just flew from Prague to Basel and hopped on a train to Colmar, France. I’m meeting the co-author of our France guidebook, Steve Smith, to do some research work, and then we’ll meet our film crew to make two new TV shows in France.

I love Colmar. For years, it was a two-night stop on our “Best of Europe in 22 Days” tour. Today it seems strange to think that the most charming city in the German-flavored corner of France called Alsace would merit that coveted spot on our “grand tour.” When designing the tour, we figured that on a three-week Europe tour, while you’d obviously visit Paris, you’d also want a look at the French countryside. And Colmar offered a way to break the long drive from the Swiss Alps to the grand finale in Paris. As a bonus, it let us include a look at the WWI battlefield sights of Verdun and a stop at a Champagne cave, to boot.

Now, our Best of Europe tours stop in Burgundy rather than Alsace. We made the change because Burgundy is more quintessentially French than Alsace. But if you’re touring Alsace, Colmar is still the best home base. I like Alsace — but it really is a mix of German and French culture, as this is the region that for centuries flip-flopped between Germany and France depending on who won the last war. That’s why you find people here named Jacques Schmidt or Gunter Dubois, and the wurst comes with fine sauces.

Each Tuesday evening, a folk group brings the half-timbered main square of old Colmar to life.
Each Tuesday evening, a folk group brings the half-timbered main square of old Colmar to life.
I love traveling through France with Steve Smith, the co-author of our France guidebook. And everywhere we go in France, we meet happy travelers with the book. They are eager to share their experiences — as you can see in this photo of Steve and some satisfied readers — and in our work, we find that very helpful.
I love traveling through France with Steve Smith, the co-author of our France guidebook. And everywhere we go in France, we meet happy travelers with the book. They are eager to share their experiences — as you can see in this photo of Steve and some satisfied readers — and in our work, we find that very helpful.
I’m starting to see more innovative ways to use your mobile device when sightseeing. These QR codes (which you can scan with your smartphone's camera) are posted at each spot of interest in Colmar. Scan it, and bam! You’ve got the information right there on your screen for free. It’s almost as helpful as our guidebook!
I’m starting to see more innovative ways to use your mobile device when sightseeing. These QR codes (which you can scan with your smartphone’s camera) are posted at each spot of interest in Colmar. Scan it, and bam! You’ve got the information right there on your screen for free. It’s almost as helpful as our guidebook!