Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Friday, May 6, 2016

Verdun: Crossroads of Liberty


Today, I will be escorting my Verdun Battlefield tour group on walking tour of the city itself.  One stop I think the first time visitors will be surprised to see will be this memorial near the train station.


The Voie de la Liberté marks two famous wartime lines of communication. The marker on the right indicates the route of the World War II  712-mile road of liberation from Utah Beach in Normandy to Bastogne in the Ardennes forest. The marker the left is at the northern terminus of the Voie Sacrée, the 38-mile road from Bar-le-Duc that was so critical to the French defense of Verdun in 1916.

In both cases, the length of both roads are marked by an identical marker placed every kilometer.

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