Winter is Coming

The Battle of Sedan (12 – 15th May 1940) took place after the German Army launched an offensive through the Ardennes to reach the English Channel and encircle the Allied Armies in North Eastern France. To succeed the Germans had to capture Sedan and prevent the French from destroying the bridges over the River Meuse. With overwhelming force the German Army quickly secured the bridges and within days had reached the sea. On the 26th May, Operation Dynamo was launched and the first of 338,000 Allied Soldiers were evacuated from the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk.

The Silver Machine has landed at the Aire de Camping-Car Park in Sedan over looking the river Meuse next to one of these very bridges. It’s not why we’re here, in fact we’ve only just learned of the significance of the town at the beginning of World War Two. The reason we’re here is firstly, it’s on the way home and, secondly it’s got the Chateau Fort de Sedan which, covering an area of 8.5 acres, is the largest Fortress in Europe.

Sedan is a town in the Ardennes in the North West of France and it’s only about a 90 minute drive from Luxembourg . The town is pleasant enough to wander around but, with the population currently about 17,000, but on the decline, the buildings do generally look a bit jaded.

We thoroughly recommend a visit to the castle and at 11€ for adult admission it’s reasonably good value. It is absolutely enormous and although the visit can take a couple of hours, you still only access about 20% of the castle. There’s even a 4 star hotel incorporated into the structure.

The castle itself is impressive but what makes it really stand out is the amount of effort that has been put in to bringing the past back to life. Many of the rooms have been imaginatively recreated with good use of light and recordings of the sight and sounds you would expect back in the day.

We hadn’t initially planned to visit Luxembourg this time round as we had been here for four nights last year. However the forecast suggested there could be some heavy rain for a couple of days so we thought that at least there were some things we could do in the city if this turned out to be the case. So we pointed the Silver Machine in the direction of Camping Kockelstreuer and set off on the three hour drive. As it turned out the weather remained dry but it was cold, oh so cold.

The city of Luxembourg is famed for its medieval fortifications surrounding the old town which is perched on sheer cliffs overlooking the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers. The great Fortress of Luxembourg was dismantled as a result of the Treaty of London 1867 which guaranteed the full independence and neutrality for Luxembourg.

Little remains of the Fortress on the Bock Promontory, but beneath the surface, the Bock Casemates, an immense underground military defence system with 17kms of tunnels remains. We’re not sure why we didn’t explore the Casemates last year but it was great to do it now and at 6.50€ for a senior ticket (8€ for adults) good value for money.

Described as the Gibraltar of the North, the tunnels could accommodate not only thousands of defenders with their equipment, but artillery, workshops, kitchens and bakeries. Not unreasonably you can only access the limited area of tunnels which probably offer most interest and most dramatic views from the openings cut into the cliff face.

We visited the Notre-DameNorte-Dame Cathedral because, to be honest, we couldn’t remember being in it the last time we were here. Even once we were in it we weren’t too sure.

Once we checked we had actually been inside. Maybe it’s a sign we’ve just seen too many churches.

The ornamentation is perhaps best described as restrained. What gives the interior its impressive appearance is the large stained glass widows dominating three sides of the building.

What we definitely hadn’t discovered the last time was the interesting crypt. It contains a small chapel and the tombs of members of the royal family.

While we were in Luxembourg, the national football side played Slovakia in a European Championship match. We only discovered this when I looked it up after hearing loud cheering close by. It turns out the Stadium is only about 15 walk from the campsite. Oh and despite the cheering Luxembourg lost 1 – 0.

The weather continues to be variable with regular showers. The temperatures have dropped so much that, as you may have noticed, the padded jackets are out, the shorts have been tucked away for another year amd the hearings on in the Silber Machine. Its a bit disappointing but I guess it’s all part of a gradual withdrawal process from the 31°C temperatures of only last week to whatever it is we’re going to face when we get home early November. “Winter is coming!”