Verdun was the site of a fierce battle during World War I between France and Germany.  It resulted in nearly 1 million deaths to this battle alone.  Thirteen villages were caught in the midst of this war, completely destroyed and never rebuilt.  Today, you can walk through the villages that are no longer.  Markers are all that remain to show street names, identify bakeries, farms, etc.  The landscape is cratered throughout the area and serves as a testament to the horrors that took place almost 100 years ago.  

This region has several WWI memorials, sites, and cemeteries.  We were able to stop and visit a few.  L'Ossuaire de Douaumont is a lovely memorial overlooking a war cemetery.  It was at this very location that 130,000 French and Germans were killed, the massacre so vast that only a mass grave was possible.  Heaps of bones are visible at the base of the memorial.  And not far from L'Ossuaire de Douaumont is the site of Tranchee des Baionnettes (Trench of Bayonets), where a company of soldiers was buried alive, many of their bayonets protruding through the earth, marking their graves. 

Verdun is a reminder of sacrifice. In 1916, it was a hell on earth. Today, it is a serene, pocked landscape whose story won't be forgotten.