Verdun

The quaint French countryside is interrupted in a few places by memorials to a bloody history.  

In an arc that stretches from Lille in the north to Verdun in the southeast is the "Zone Rouge" or red zone - a area that was utterly devastated during the trench warfare of World War I.  Tens of millions of artillery shells fell over a narrow corridor as the war settled into stalemate and the great powers fought for gains measured in yards.  

Passing through Verdun is an eerie experience.  Verdun is one of the more famous of the battle sites, notorious for its pointlessness and horror. The numbers are staggering and speak for themselves, over 300,000 people were killed over the 10 months of the battle - 1,000 people a day on average.  Many more were wounded.  More soldiers died during one month of Verdun than during the entire Vietnam war.  The result of the battle amounted to a stalemate - neither side could truly claim victory.

The landscape of the battlefield is permanently disfigured by the 40 million artillery shells fired during battle.  Today, it has an eerie, sculpted beauty to it.  It looks like a forgotten golf course, which has been reclaimed by the forest around it, and it stretches for miles and miles.  The Zone Rouge, as well as the areas around it, has been declared a national monument.  It's estimated that there are still tens of thousands of soldiers buried under the debris of battle.

Visiting the museums and memorials is a powerful experience.  Over an area of several football fields are posted tens of thousands of crosses in remembrance of the men who braved the horror and gave their lives for their countries.   

The "Zone Rouge", 1918

Then and now.

One of several underground citadels which served as a command and supply outposts during the battle.  Soldiers would live for months underground, waiting for their day of battle, cooking for the army, or tending to the wounded.

Models and Bottles

Real Champagne comes from Champagne.

Getting out of Paris is wonderful.  The French countryside is charming.  There are rolling hills, covered in  green vineyards.  The roads are lazy.  The towns that haven't changed in hundreds of years.  Suddenly I understood why the French spent so much too subsidize this stuff - agriculture in France isn't just an industry - it's also a landscaping project that covers an entire country.

Champagne, a few hours drive east of Paris, is a good place to get a feel for small town France.  It's also the capital of the global sparkling wine industry.  

Moet is one of France's prestigious brands.  It produces Moet Imperial, originally created for Napoleon, and Dom Perignon, which retails for over $100 a bottle.

The luxury starts with the champagne-flute chandeliers.

The Moet brand is about celebration, and being fabulous.

Called Imperial because it was the champagne of Napoleon Bonaparte

Freudian?  

Thousands of bottles waiting for a party.

Hundreds of miles of tunnels lie under the surface of the towns of Champagne.

A bottle for a party of every size!

Secret code so that people don't "accidentally" take a bottle of the good stuff.

Wanderlust

You know, I felt pretty good about being back, and then I saw this guy's blog.  Wow.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480532

If you have a constant hunger for adventure stories, there are literally dozens of people doing amazing trips here.

Barcelona

Barcelona, wow.  What a cool place.

It's Buenos Aires with a better economy... or LA without traffic... or Miami without the hurricanes.  It's edgy, hip, fun, modern, and a great place to unwind for a few days.  It's like your smart and sophisticated friend who works as a designer for Apple, is fluent in the history of medieval church architecture, and can own you on the dance floor until the sun rises at 6am.  

Barcelona's charm is in the unexpected daily delights.  And it's affordable!  Everything felt on sale in Barcelona.  Even the food, which was perfectly matched to the local wines.  The museums weren't as famous as those in Paris, but they were interesting, perfectly sized for a 2 hour visit and almost completely devoid of tourists.  The parks, the views, the weather... the list goes on.

Gaudi's post-modern religious monument, the Sagrada Familia, is a must-see.  The Vatican is bigger and more ornate, but Gaudi takes the prize for most inspiring and delightful architecture.  After admiring the church - which is barely half complete - have a tapas lunch in the sun, take a siesta, and party with the locals until sunrise.

So here it is, Barcelona.