Part 11

_The village of_ =Nogent l'Abbesse= _is next reached, at the entrance to which the road divides into three branches. Take the middle one (G.C. 64), which leads to the_ ruined village of =Beine=. _During the run-down to the village, there is a_ fine view of the Champagne Hills in front (Mont Cornillet and Mont Haut).

The village of =Beine= was one of the oldest demesnes belonging to the Abbey of St. Remi-de-Reims. It was made into a _commune_ at the end of the 12th century.

The church of St. Laurent, situated in the centre of the village, was an excellent specimen of the transition style of the 12th century (_photo below_).

_A road leading to Sillery leaves Beine in a south-westerly direction, but owing to its bad condition it is impossible to use it for returning to Rheims._ The trenches and shell holes have barely been filled in, and the temporary bridges over the wider trenches would probably break down under a fairly heavy car. On the other hand, the huge craters made by the Germans in the course of their retreat, have only been summarily repaired and are not practicable for motor-cars. _Tourists should therefore return to Nogent l'Abbesse by the road they came by._

_Enter the village by the main street, which follow as far as_ the church, whose belfry has been destroyed.

_After the church, take the first street on the right, then the second road on the left (G.C. 64), which leads to_ =Berru=. _In front of the village, turn to the left and cross straight through._ The 12th century Church of St. Martin, which suffered only slightly from the bombardments, _is in the middle of the village, on the left (photo above)_.

_On leaving Berru, the tourist comes again to the crossing mentioned on p. 163. Turn to the right and return to Witry-les-Reims by the road previously followed._

_At Witry-les-Reims, take N. 51 on the left, passing by the_ ruined works of Linguet (_photo below_).

_Rheims is reached by the Faubourg Ceres. Keep straight on to the Place Royale, via the Rue du Faubourg Ceres and the Rue Ceres._

SECOND DAY

AFTERNOON

=LA POMPELLE FORT-SILLERY=

(_See complete Itinerary, p. 121._)

_This Itinerary will take the tourist through two regions of entirely different characters._

_The first part is devoted to visiting the battlefield south-east of Rheims_, which was the scene of much desperate fighting throughout the war, but especially in 1918. This region formed the pivot of the French right wing, and remained firm despite the repeated powerful attacks of the enemy.

_The second part of the Itinerary leaves the battlefield proper, and conducts the tourist across_ the most reputed vine-growing centres of Champagne (Verzenay, Mailly-Champagne and Ludes), through lovely, picturesque country, which, although it has somewhat suffered from the bombardments, has nevertheless retained its pre-war aspect.

_Leave Rheims by the Avenue de Chalons, continued by N. 44 (see the plan of Rheims between pp. 32 and 33, F. 6 and H. 7)._

The Avenue de Chalons was well within the first-line defences.

Two communicating trenches run along the footpaths on either side of the Avenue.

_Skirt_ Pommery Park, _on the left_, completely ravaged by the bombardment and the network of trenches which cross it.

_As soon as the last houses of the town have been left behind, the tourist finds himself_ in the midst of the battlefield.

The sector, known as "=La Butte-de-Tir=," situated on the left, below Cernay and beyond the railway, was the scene of furious fighting throughout the German occupation of 1914 to 1918 (_photo below_).

_The road crosses the Chalons Railway (l.c.), and goes thence direct to the_ =Fort of La Pompelle=, passing through an inextricable network of trenches and barbed wire entanglements. The country hereabouts was completely ravaged by the terrific bombardments, and recalls the devastated regions around Verdun, near Vaux and Douaumont (_see the Michelin Illustrated Guide: Verdun, and the Battles for its Possession_).

=La Jouissance Farm= is next passed. Nothing remains either of it or of the road, _which started from this point towards Cernay, on the left_.

The =Fort of La Pompelle=, _which is next reached_, is now a mere heap of ruins. The road which led to the fort no longer exists. _To visit the ruins of the fort, tourists will have to follow on foot the narrow-gauge railway which starts from the road (photo above)_.

Tradition has it that St. Timothy came from Asia to convert Rheims, suffered martyrdom, together with St. Apollinaris and several companions, on the hill known as _La Pompelle_, so-called perhaps from the procession (_pompa_ or _pompella_) which, in the Middle Ages, used to visit the place of martyrdom of the saints.

This hill, which rises close to the crossing of the Rheims-St.-Hilaire-le-Grand and Rheims-Chalons Roads, was fortified after 1870, to flank the position of Berru on the south.

The road from Rheims to Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand (_G.C. 7_), which used to start from the "Alger Inn," at the cross-roads mentioned above, no longer exists. Like the inn, it was obliterated by the shelling. A huge crater now occupies the site of the Alger Inn (_photo below_).

_Continue along N. 44. About 1 kilometre from the fort, at a bend in the road_, the shattered remnants of trees of an avenue are visible on the left. Under the first fir-tree of this avenue, about 20 yards from the national road, is an armoured machine-gun shelter, almost intact.

_Cross the railway (l.c.) near the entirely destroyed station of Petit-Sillery. After passing a ruined chateau on the left, cross the bridge over the Vesle. At the fork beyond the bridge, leave N. 44 and take G.C. 8 on the right to_ =Sillery=.

This village, renowned for its dry wine, is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Vesle. Throughout the war, it was quite close to the trenches and was frequently bombarded. In May, 1916, only some fifty of its inhabitants remained in the village, which subsequently suffered very severely, especially in 1918.

_Take a turn in the village, then follow N. 44 towards Chalons (see Itinerary, p. 166)._

The region of =Sillery-Pompelle= was the scene of much fierce fighting throughout the war. After the capture of =La Pompelle= and the "=Alger Inn=" by the French 10th Corps on the night of September 17-18, 1914, the Germans increased the number of their attacks, with a view to regaining these important positions.

One of these attacks (that of December 30, 1914) was preceded by the explosion of a mine at the "Alger Inn," which made a hole 130 feet in diameter by 55 feet deep (_see photo, p. 169_). After a hand-to-hand fight, the French drove back the enemy and remained masters of the crater.

In 1918, during their offensives against Rheims, the Germans attacked several times in this region. On June 1, between =Pommery Park= (in the south-eastern outskirts of Rheims) and the north-east of Sillery, they attacked with eight or nine battalions and fifteen tanks. The garrison of Fort Pompelle, momentarily encircled, held out until a furious counter-attack by the French Colonial Infantry relieved it and drove back the assailants. The German tanks were either captured or destroyed. On the 18th, after an hour's intense bombardment, the Germans made a fresh attack and secured a footing in the Northern Cemetery of Rheims and in the north-eastern outskirts of Sillery, but French counter-attacks drove them out almost immediately. From July 15 to 17 their attacks on Sillery were likewise repulsed.

_Continue along N. 44 to the_ destroyed Esperance Farm _(about 2 kilometres distant), then turn to the right_. Numerous military works were made by the French in the embankments of the Aisne-Marne canal along the left side of the road.

_The road rises towards the "Mountain of Rheims."_ A white tower, dominating the whole plain, _is seen on the left (photo below)_.

=Verzenay= _is next reached by the Rue de Sillery._

It was at =Verzenay= that, on the evening of September 3, 1914, the German aeroplane, which had dropped bombs on Rheims the same morning, was brought down. It has suffered relatively little from the bombardments.

_To visit the church_, which contains the tomb of Saint-Basle (_chapel on the right_), _take the Rue Gambetta, then the Rue Thiers_.

_After visiting the church, return to the Rue Thiers, at the end of which is the Rue de Mailly (G.C. 26)._

_Take the latter, which, on leaving Verzenay, rises fairly stiffly._

_At the top of the hill, on the right, begins the road leading to_ =Verzenay Mill=, which crowns Hill 227 (_see Itinerary, p. 166, and photo above_).

This mill, whence there is a fine panorama of the plain as far as the hills of Berru and Moronvilliers, was a military observation-post of the first order during the siege warfare.

_It belongs to the champagne-wine firm of Heidsieck Monopole, which allows tourists to visit it, as also their vineyards in the surrounding country._

_The road dips down to_ Mailly-Champagne, _at the entrance to which village turn to the right into the Rue Gambetta, then to the left into the Rue de Ludes (G.C. 26)_. The road, cut out of the hillside, is very picturesque as far as Ludes. In the forest, on the left of the road, are numerous "_cendrieres_," or quarries, from which volcanic sulphurous cinders, used for improving the vines, are extracted. Heaps of these valuable cinders (grey, white and black) are frequently encountered at the side of the road.

=Ludes= _is next reached by the Avenue de la Gare_.

The region just passed through, including the villages of Verzenay, Mailly-Champagne and Ludes, as well as Verzy (_to the east_), and Rilly-la-Montagne and Villers-Allerand (_to the west_), are the wine-growing centres of the "Mountain of Rheims" properly so-called, the black grapes from which produce the best brands of Champagne. The villages are picturesquely situated at the edge of the forests which crown the hills, while the vineyards which cover the slopes of the latter descend to the chalky plain. These vineyards, divided into tiny plots, the ground of which before the ravages of the phylloxera cost as much as 93,000 francs per hectare (about 2-1/2 acres), constitute the principal wealth of the country. Here and there they have suffered from the war, but this has not prevented the vine-dressers from cultivating them (often with the help of the soldiers) or from gathering the grapes, under the continual menace of the German guns.

At =Ludes=, in the _Avenue de la Gare, turn to the right into the Rue de Cormontreuil, and again to the right, into the Rue de Puisieulx (G.C. 33)_.

_At the crossing, 1 kilometre beyond Ludes, go straight on. After passing on the right an avenue bordered with trees leading to the_ =Chateau of Romont, Puisieulx= _is reached_.

_At the first crossing, on entering the village, keep straight on, then turn to the right as far as the_ ruined church, with its curious loop-holed chevet. _Leave the church on the right and, at the end of the village, turn to the left._ There are a few graves _on the right of the road_. _After skirting a large estate, the trees of which were destroyed by shell-fire, the tourist reaches_ =Sillery=.

_Turn to the left into G.C. 8, at the entrance to the village. On the right are vestiges_ of a small wood, known as "Zouaves Wood," which was the scene of many sanguinary fights after its capture by the French in 1914.

_The tourist next reaches_ =Taissy=, whose ruined church _is on the right, by the side of the Vesle (photo, p. 173)_.

This interesting church is largely Romanesque in style (tower, chevet and nave). The tabernacle, with altar-piece of carved wood, is Louis XIII. A fine wrought-iron railing encloses the sanctuary (_photo below_). The small, sonorous bell of the belfry is, strange to say, 13th or 14th century.

_Pass straight through Taissy, then follow the tram-lines._ =Cormontreuil= _is entered by the Rue Victor-Hugo._

_From Cormontreuil, the tourist may return to Rheims either by turning to the right in the village, beyond the tram station (in this case he will enter Rheims by the Rue de Cormontreuil which leads to the Place Dieu-Lumiere) or by continuing straight ahead. In the latter case he will cross the Faubourg Flechambault by the Rue Ledru-Rollin. At the end of the latter, turn to the right into the Rue Flechambault which, after crossing the Vesle and the canal, leads to the Church of St. Remi._

CONTENTS

PAGES Political History of Rheims 3-7 Military History of Rheims 8 and 9 The Battles for Rheims, 1914-1918 9-15 The Destruction of Rheims by the bombardments 16-21 Life in the bombarded City 21-26

I.--A VISIT TO THE CITY 27-120

THE CATHEDRAL (description of) 28-60 History of the Cathedral 28-30 The Cathedral during the War 31 and 32 Coloured Plan of Rheims between 32 and 33 Plan of the Cathedral and Archi-episcopal Palace 33 Exterior of the Cathedral 34-49 Interior of the Cathedral 50-60

FIRST ITINERARY--THE CITY 61-94 The Place du Parvis 62 The Archi-episcopal Palace 63-66 The Place Drouet d'Erlon and The Promenades 70 and 71 The Hotel-de-Ville 72 The Place des Marches 74 The Place Royale 78 The Musicians' House 80 The Mars Gate 82 The Rue de Ceres 87

SECOND ITINERARY--THE CITY (_continued_) 95-120 The Rue Chanzy 95-97 The Lycee 97 and 98 The Abbey of Saint Pierre-les-Dames 98 The Pommery Wine-Cellars 101 The Church of St. Remi 103-116 The Hotel-Dieu (Hospital) 117

II.--A VISIT TO THE BATTLEFIELD.

FIRST ITINERARY (Morning) 122-133 Ormes 124 St. Euphraise 127 Coulommes-la-Montagne 128 Gueux 129 Thillois 131

SECOND ITINERARY (Afternoon) 134-159 Tinqueux 135 Merfy 137 St. Thierry 138 Villers-Franqueux 141 Cormicy 144 Le Godat 148 Loivre 150 Brimont 152 The "Cavaliers de Courcy" 156 La Neuvillette 158

THIRD ITINERARY (Morning) 160-165 Bourgogne--Fresnes 161 Witry-les-Reims 162 Nogent l'Abbesse--Beine--Berru 164

FOURTH ITINERARY (Afternoon) 166-174 The Butte-de-Tir 167 The Fort de la Pompelle 168 Alger Inn 169 Verzenay 172

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON

XII--2,116-8-19-25

BEAUTIFUL FRANCE

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NORMANDY.

Land of rich pastures and fashionable watering-places, Normandy may truly be said to have been "favoured by the gods." Her fertile soil, famous breeds of horses and cattle, picturesque sites, and renowned sea-bathing coast have made Normandy one of France's most flourishing provinces. Numerous splendid monuments evoke in the tourist's mind reminiscences of a glorious past.

No region has been more lavishly adorned by Nature. Its mountain landscapes have caused it to be surnamed "La Petite Suisse." Among the more interesting places may be mentioned =Bagnoles-de-l'Orne=, with its famous mineral-water springs; =Rouen=, with its celebrated cathedral, churches of St. Ouen and St. Maclou, Palais-de-Justice, and port (which the war has transformed into one of the most important in Europe); =Caen=--"Norman Athens"--with its Romanesque churches, Renaissance mansions, and ancient houses; the great cathedrals of =Sees=, =Evreux=, =Bayeux=, and =Coutances=; the feudal ruins of =Arques=, =Chateau-Gaillard= and =Falaise=; the Abbeys of =Jumieges= and =St. Wandrille=; the mediaeval narrow winding streets of =Lisieux=.

Numerous sea-side resorts: =Dieppe=, =St. Valery=, =Fecamp=, =Entretat=, =Le Havre=, and =St. Adresse=, =Honfleur=, =Trouville=, =Deauville=, =Villers=, =Houlgate=, =Cabourg=, =Cherbourg= and =Grandville= are too widely known to call for special mention.

Lastly =St. Michael's Mount= (surnamed the "Marvel of the West"), with its extraordinary pyramid of superimposed Gothic monastery and Churches, built on a rock in the middle of a deep bay.

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_All enquiries with regard to travelling should be addressed to the "Touring Club de France," 65, Avenue de la Grande Armee 65, Paris._

MICHELIN TOURING OFFICES

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=MICHELIN & Cie, CLERMONT-FERRAND= Touring Office :: 99, Bd. Pereire, PARIS

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Drop a line, ring us up, or call at one of our Touring Offices and you will receive a carefully worked out description of the route to follow.