Day 17 - Hell on a Hill.

For the first time in 10 days, we woke to bright sunshine and clear blue skies. Breakfast was excellent and our Dutch host, Lena, indulged us with bacon and fried egg: luxury! Having discussed today’s route with Lena and her husband, both WW1 ‘buffs’ and owners of the Arara B&B, we decided to alter the prescribed route and bypass Avocourt, to allow ourselves time to visit ‘La Main de Massiges’.

Avocourt, marks the western extent of military operations that took place during the battle of Verdun, and was a German objective during their offensive in March 1916. To the west of Avocourt lies the Foret D’Argonne, which formed part of the Meuse Argonne front, and was where Field Marshall Erwin Rommel served in the trenches as a young officer. Climbing out of Varennes-en-Argonne, which sits astride the River L’Aire and is famous as the birthplace of the French Revolution, we headed west in a brisk cold wind along forest tracks of varying standards; some of which had been made impassable by logging machinery. To the south of the track, it is still possible to see extensive trench systems. This section of the Western Front saw widespread fighting throughout the winter of 1914/15 and then again in September 1918 as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, with the US 1st Army assigned this sector of the front.

Leaving the Argonne, we crossed the river Aisne and climbed up onto the La Main de Massiges, an area that became vital ground to both the German and French armies, providing excellent observation over the Aisne valley and linking the Champagne and Argonne fronts. The Germans occupied this ridge in September 1914, as they retreated in front of the French after the Battle of the Marne. Despite valiant efforts by French Colonial troops to remove them, the Germans held on until they were finally evicted in September 1918. Today, after extensive excavation, part of the ridge now looks as it would have when occupied by the Germans; a comprehensive trench system with dugouts, tunnels, saps and gun positions, covered in vicious barbed wire and scattered with rusted artefacts such as spades and drinking cups. Manned by volunteers (though we saw no-one) and topped by a tricolour snapping in the breeze, it was well worth the detour and gave the closest insight yet, into what it would have actually been like to live in the trenches. We spent about 45 minutes walking through this man-made rabbit warren, thanking the ‘Gods’ that we never had to experience warfare like this and all its related horrors. The irony of course, is that while we walk the WFW, Ukranian and Russian soldiers are digging trench systems that would not be out of place on the Western Front.

By the time we reached our overnight destination, the Hotel Fantastique, run by yet another dutchman (Hans), we had walked about 13 km on roads, not to mention some distance on very poor stony farm tracks. We have both been very careful to ‘manage’ our feet over the last 17 days; prevention of blisters is preferable to treatment. However, this was the first night that we both felt that our feet had been subjected to a ‘battering’. The Altra boots that we are using have a large toe box and have proved to be effective over long distances, however we have identified 2 weakness: the first is that they are not great in mud, the second is that they are effectively ‘barefoot’ shoes that have little cushioning against sharp stones…hence our bruised feet. Nurofen, and some rest will hopefully sort them out.