MARC CHAGALL AND REIMS CATHEDRAL, A VETERAN OF THE WAR

Hotel St. Paul
Verdun, France
August 17, 2015

DRAFT
Another emotional day, but I'm going to write about highlights today. Since we are getting back to the hotel so late from convivial dinner and are spending long days "in the field," we are  tired!

First thing this morning we visited the Reims Cathedral, one of World War I's surviving veterans. Severely damaged during the war, this cathedral became a face of the war so to speak. One can still see shell shots and damaged exterior statues, but much has been repaired. I did not expect to see three fabulous stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall, the artist I met in France in 1967 when I studied French, history, and art history in Aix en Provence for a year. The windows are exquisite and blues are especially fabulous.

Next we traveled to Suippe where one of our tour members made a connection to her great uncle who fought here for the U.S. Army 42nd Division. All of us appreciated her research and writing and how she was able to be where he was. Her great uncle did not survive the war.

After many more stops in battlefields and cemeteries, we finished with a visit to Main de Massiges where M. Pierre Labat, the town mayor, met us to describe the battle in this area in French. Another tour member lives in Paris and she graciously agreed to translate. We heard rich detail about the grounds near the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest. So many men were lost, five villages completely destroyed, and only a few metres of land gained in three years.  Mayor Labat (and Mike too) said that the Germans would take over villages and dig tunnels between all the basements/cellars of the homes/buildings. Because these villages were destroyed, adjoining towns merged and that is why we are seeing so many towns with hyphenated names. All birth, death, and marriage records were destroyed. That is why now there is a law that all records must be copied and sent elsewhere. Details one does not always see in history books! M. Labat also said that the French were still cleaning up after the war, removing metal and bombs and shells, etc. when World War II began twenty years later.

The people of this area have preserved German and French trenches. We walked four  hectares of trenches with the Mayor while it was raining, The way was slippery in the chalky clay like floors, metal sheets holding back earthen walls, barbed wire just above.

Part of the restored trenches in Main de Massiges

It is late and I must close--the Internet is sketchy and we are in this hotel for 5 nights.

We wish Brother and M Happy Anniversary today!