Parking under the trees by canal in charming Mareuil-sur-Ay aire.
We are parked by the charming tree-lined canal that runs alongside the river Marne, just south of Reims, but unfortunately it has been raining all day, quite heavily at times, and I don’t really feel like going for a long walk like I normally would. I took Beano out for a quick trot when we arrived here just before 2 pm and Adonis took him for a longer one after our siesta. It’s a real shame as it’s really beautiful and I would have loved to enjoy it in the sun, eating out, etc like we did this time last year. Truth be told, we’ve only had one day of sunshine and hot weather on Sunday at the Vivier des Carpes campsite, so we are getting really desperate for some sun and warmth and, therefore, we have changed our original plan of going to Brittany for week or so in favour of heading south east, where the weather is bound to be better. We might go to Brittany on our way back in mid- August, but for now we are very much playing it by ear.
Walking Beano by the canal in the rain
The lovely canal walk
We visited the Caverne du Dragon on the Chemin des Dames, which was the scene of bloody fightings in 1914, 1917 and 1918. The Caverne itself was an ancient quarry turned into an underground barracks during WW1 and it shows many galleries used by soldiers, both French and German, even sharing it at some point! We followed the guided in French as we didn’t want to wait until 12 for the English one, but we managed OK and got the gist of things. It felt cold under there – 17 metres underground – in July, so I hate to think what it must have been like in the winter all those years ago. It was certainly interesting and well worth the 6€ entry fee.
Caverne du Dragon
The view of what would have been the battlefield behind entrance to cave
In memory of the fallen in the Caverne du Dragon
Some gruesome remnants of WW1
A sad reminder of the true cost of war
The soldiers’ cooking area inside the cave
There are numerous Champagne outlets here and we were hoping to visit some and buy a couple of bottles, but perhaps not today. I hope it’s a bit drier tomorrow so that we can enjoy a walk into town and along the canal.
