Time to go and see some of the real French countryside today. A little group picture in Nancy, and on our way we went!
First stop? Well, somewhere with a nice view would do nice, don't you think? So what is that hill sticking out of the Lorraine region landscape?
It's this place... La butte de Montsec. And yes, it may take a bit of zooming in, but our group is actually in this picture... Somewhere far down below.
Once up there though, you can see what the view was all about...
An impressive monument remembering all the lost American lives during the first World War in this very area...
And when we say view, we really mean view... Right down from the monument on Lac de Madine.
Here's commander Paul overlooking the battlefield in a very distinguished fashion.
One stop further: time for a coffee in the historic town center of Verdun.
And then just a couple of minutes up the road, this place turns up: the impressive ossuaire (which translates into bone-house) of Verdun, where the remains and skeletons of many tens of thousands of soldiers are put to eternal rest... Makes you think and reflect about a truly insane period in history....
The ride in made for some pretty decent roads, have to say...
Dan and Rhonda closing the line as usual, and with Geman precision, we might add.
Impressive monument...
... but even more impressive is the immense graveyard out front...
... showing how Muslims and Catholics all came together here once to make the ultimate sacrifice. Makes you step back and think a little, doesn't it? A wonderful, beautiful place full of remembering, outside Verdun.
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande were here not long ago to contemplate on the exact same thing. N'oublions jamais, or "let us never forget".
And then, after riding through an American cemetary actually big enough to have the whole road running through it...
... the group ended up in someone's back yard!? Yup, tour guide Axel knows a Dutchman in the tiny little village of Romagne who has dedicated his life to a little but very storytelling museum about the true stories behind World War one. (And, well, to making some pretty delicious sandwiches for lunch too)
Furher down the road it went after that, and after some pretty delicious riding roads, the group made it to the busy city center of Reims. Home of champagne, and the ideal place for a rest day tomorrow allowing everyone to do their own thing. There might still be a bit of nice riding involved though... Watch this space!
, dinner was set in probably one of the most beautiful town squares in the whole of France: Place Stanislas sure made an impression! 
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