Following in Their Footsteps - Metz and Verdun, France
After our lovely time in Strasbourg, we traveled northwest to the ancient city of Metz to end in the somber Verdun battlefield.
Logistics
I would hurry to read our overall travel planning post here to get some tips!
Because we were on a French roadtrip, planning was relatively simple once we found our hotel. From Strasbourg, it was only about a two hour drive. Initially, we were close to booking a hotel in the middle of Metz, but we opted for a quaint AirBnB about a 20 minute walk from the city center.
Once in Verdun, our hotel, Les Jardins du Mess, was in the middle of town located on the river. Since the hotel provided breakfast and dinner, it was really great!
If traveling via train, the journey can be quite long and probably not possible as a day trip unless you like 3-4 hour train rides! Coming from Paris, one would have to connect in Metz to get to Verdun for about 3-4 hours of total train time.
Metz & Verdun Activities
At first, we weren’t too sure what to do while in Metz. Although the city is one of the largest and oldest in France, we had not really heard of it! As the city sits at the borders of Luxembourg, Germany, and France, the city has a cultural significance. However, for us, we just wanted to see the Christmas markets since we figured most of the museums and other attractions would be closed for the holidays.
INSERT THE GOOGLE MAP PARA
Read about our somber visit to Verdun battlefield here.
Onto Metz
After our Strasbourg adventure, we were on the road to Metz. While the drive was only two hours long, it felt much longer thanks to the many tolls! Now I see why trains are so popular! Once we arrived in our cute little B&B, we decided to walk into the city rather than drive and park elsewhere.
Travel Tip: France has a lot of tolls so factor that into your trip costs!
Metz Markets
For our first Metz market, it was a smashing…. failure! The market was completely dead and we were hoping it was due to the early time but it didn’t have the same Christmas spirit as past markets. After we walked around a little bit, we decided to try our luck at the next main square market.
However, the market by the cathedral very similar! While the market was very cool with its own ferris wheel and plenty of stalls, there wasn’t the same spirit as the other cities. There was a nearby food market that seemed cool, but we weren’t staying for very long! Perhaps this is because we had the best of the best markets in Strasbourg and Colmar?!
Exploring the Ancient City of Metz
After our sad failure of the Metz markets, we decided to explore the city! From our online research, Metz is surprisingly a very old city dating back well over 3,000 years. As the main source of power for the region, it carries much weight. In fact, similar to Strasbourg, Metz has been essentially shared between Germany and France since the 1600s.
Via the handy Tripadvisor app, we decided to see all the historic sites and just went through the top 10 list. While we don’t know why these buildings are listed in the top 10, their architectural beauty is wonderful to behold.
Included in the Top 10 list is the main Metz church. By far, this church is the largest (note, not tallest) one I’ve seen! According to the information, this church has the most stain glass windows in the world! Not bad for a church built between the 1300-1500s! Even more uniquely, the yellow hue of the church’s exterior comes from the local mountain’s stones.
One Last Time
After a fun local drink at a fun watering hole at Aux Paraiges, we went to possibly our last Christmas market of 2018. While we were really sad, we are holding out hope for more markets in Reims and Paris! More importantly, finally, the Metz markets were alive! We found a really excellent market just outside our dinner place. Unlike their German counterparts, there are definitely more sweets, savory foods, and wine! As a toast to our final Christmas market, I had my last mulled wine!
Fabulous Dinner
Because of Mary Frances’ TripAdvisor savvy, she booked a dinner reservation at the excellent Restaurant Derriere. Although our reservation was at a normal English time at 7pm, we didnt see any other patrons until 750pm! Our meal was quite lovely without any other people! Both of us ordered a glorious meal of filet de boeuf and the meal was fantastic! We were definitely amazed by the quality! Our walk home was magnificent and we were in a food coma because of it!
Memorial Saturday
On our lone “lazy” day in France, we debated several options from staying in our hotel room to day trip to Luxembourg. In the end, we went back to our family roots and found some amazing memorials to our family!
Following in their Footsteps
After our awesome breakfast in our Metz B&B, we went to the small French village of Clery-le-Petit which is 15 miles north of Verdun.
For my family, this village is near where my great-grandfather, Cliff Parsons, earned his Silver Star during a cold winter night in early November 1918. I can attest to the frigid temperatures as it was 20-30 degrees with some light snow today!
Initially, it was going to be an easy and quick drive there and back since it is in the French countryside and I didn’t expect anything special. However, we discovered a few things that surprised us!
Immediately upon entering the village, there is a little white monument and a sign. While the words on the sign do not describe Cliff Parsons’ heroics, it does give you a good idea of the overall battle. The short summary is the Meuse River represented the last line of defence for the German army in November 1918. Therefore, the battle was fierce and happened throughout the American front lines.
On the white monument, it reads:
Pontoon across the Meuse River and Canal
By the 9th US infrantry Brigade
Built by Company D7th Regiment of Engineers of the US 5th Division
4-5 November 1918
From the scanned letters and copies that my family has, he was in the 5th Division, 7th Regiment of Engineers, D Company. In addition, the general orders and other documents indicate his silver star battle occurred on 4 November.
Reading the Silver Star extract describing Cliff’s daring icy swim over 100 years ago, I believe this white monument describes the pontoon bridge that he helped build over 100 years ago! I was stunned to see it as I thought it would be a simple rural village. I am not sure why there is no obvious river underneath the bridge, but I think the monument stands where the “final product” of the battle was built.
Further away, there is an easier river crossing, in our opinion, that would have fit the Silver Star story.
Either way, following in his footsteps led to a really rewarding experience. While we had no clue what to expect, the French still remember his sacrifice.
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
As we were driving away from Clery-st-Petit, we kept seeing signs for the American cemetery. Because we had nothing else on our itinerary, we decided to see what is this American cemetery. Out of the fog appears this great memorial and American flag!
As we parked at the visitor centre, we realized we were the only people here. As a miniature measure, the center is dedicated to the American divisions in the war and their final offensive in the Meuse-Argonne that included both of our great-grandfathers. There were other great exhibits including a women’s march in the 1920-30’s to protest the government keeping their son’s bodies in France and not providing a method to see them.
The guide, Walter Benjamin, was extremely nice and answered all of our questions. He was particularly keen once he heard we had family fight in the area and helped address those division’s roles in the last WW1 offensive.
Outside the visitor center, we took a quick tour through the beautiful, somber cemetery despite the freezing cold. Similar to famous Normandy center, there are great tributes to those missing soldiers and those who fought in campaign. For a random stop on our lazy day, I am so happy we were able to visit and remember those who fought and died here.
American Memorials
Now that we were definitely in the American sector, we started to see more and more memorials to the American units that fought nearby. As we were driving on this random road, another big memorial appeared out of nowhere from the fog! As it turns out, we found a huge memorial to all the American divisions serving in WW1. Mary Frances is standing next to the 42nd Division where her great-grandfather served (in the Champagne / Reims region of France) and I found the 5th Division!
The memorial is on a very important hill during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Because the landscape was barren after the rough fighting, the French decided to build this memorial on top, near an abandoned church. Even better, we found a German bunker and got some great picture despite the fog!
Our Night in Verdun
After we arrived at our very posh, nice hotel sitting on the banks of the river, we decided to explore the little village before our dinner plans. The village is remarkably cute and has everything you could want from a passterie to cheesefromger to a corporate drug store!
Dotted throughout the city are massive memorials to the historic battle. Once it is dark, the French colors really make these memorials shine! Combined with Christmas lights, I really enjoyed the village.
Because we were trying to be lazy on our lazy day, we booked dinner reservations at our hotel. Turns out, our decision was really great! In an effort to “save money,” we decided to have another filet de boeuf tenderloin! We cannot say no to a nice cut of meat!
The UnChartered Summary
Our days in the Meuse region were surprisingly awesome primarily because we found the American cemetery and our great-grandfather’s division memorials. Plus, our trip felt really off the beaten track because we were one of the few tourists from our view!
- Metz was really fun because of the food and wine, but I am not sure I would visit again. The B&B was great, but it definitely is a normal, historic French city.
- If you do visit Metz, I recommend our dinner restaurant, Restaurant Derriere.
- Because I highly recommend visiting the Verdun battlefield, I would also drive and visit the American cemetery. If you need a base, the Les Jardins du Mess is excellent and comfortable.