MONDAY, 4th SEPTEMBER : SAVERNE to ROTHAU
We hit the history trail today - leaving Saverne at 8.30a.m.,
we were very quickly out in the countryside and began to wriggle our way up into the mountains. The road was narrow in places, we took a wrong turn and drove up the Col du Valsburg
and back down again when we could turn around, finding the right road then driving through pretty villages, stopping to buy a loaf of bread in one of them
reaching our destination 20 minutes later.
The Alsace-Moselle Memorial is the result of regional determination. It attempts to explain the complicated history of Alsace and Moselle, and in particular, what occurred during the Second World War. This place offers a history lesson which is universal in scope, teaching us the necessity to unite Europeans in their diversity, with respect and dignity to everyone, in order to offer them peace and freedom.
We spent a couple of hours wandering through the Memorial and learnt just a little of the history of the region and afterwards had a picnic lunch in the sunshine, overlooking Schirmeck
before moving on to our next history lesson.
Fort de Mutzig, part ot the Maginot line, is the first concrete, armoured and electrified fortress in the world, built by the German army to defend the Rhine Valley. The 2km long self guided tour is underground and outside, we learnt a little of the daily life of 7,000 soldiers between 1914-1918.
Sleeping Quarters
Latrines
We made our way to Rothau and booked into a camping ground in between a river and a railway line, it is actually quite peaceful and we expect to sleep well tonight.
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