As we make our way through France from Strasbourg I had the opportunity of
getting some photos of the ridge of the Battle of Valmy 1792 which had a
monument and windmill. This was an
artillery exchange rather than a battle but it was the first of Revolutionary
France against external invaders. It had
the windmill as well but I doubt it’s the original. Not exciting for most people but I was
excited.
We arrive In Reims and have a tour of the Notre Dame
cathedral, I had no idea that Notre Dame was like a franchise in every major
city and it was a quite impressive building.
After it was destroyed during WW2 and rebuilt. Coincidently, we arrived
in Reims on the 70th Anniversary of the signing of the surrender to
end WW2 in Europe, the EXACT city where it was signed. Stalin complained that the German Officer
signing wasn’t senior enough so they did the exact same thing the next day in
Berlin. (It was a power thing for
Stalin.)
As we travelled towards Lille I was able to spot the ridge top of Laon
(1814) where Napoleon had unsuccessfully attacked Blucher - bottom photo. I’m such a nerd but
I have been working on a wargaming scenario of this battle so for me that was exciting.
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