Strasbourg, Helling and Heckenberg

A nice surprise for the kids: chickens at Helling 

Day 4: Strasbourg, hired 3 bikes, one with a kid seat for Louis, who fell asleep while we rolled along the rivers. We spent a while in the park while he slept and after. At the end of a nice day, we couldn't find the bike shop, going in circles trying to find it, and got properly soaked in the rain. A nice city.

The small entrance to Heckenberg

Day 5: Thionville for the kids park, then Helling for lunch. We saw a lady feeding the town's chickens, and joined in giving them some apple cores which they loved. There were rabbits in a hutch, elsewhere but the chickens are the main event. The boys saved their bread from lunch, so as to go back and give them something.

Big guns on a 90 tonne rotating turret

Then we visited Heckenberg, a large fort in the Maginot Line. There's a tiny electric train that took about 40 of us 1.5km inside. It took 1800 people 6 years to dig the tunnels.There's space for 1000 odd people, 5 major gun turrets, and multiple smaller machine gun placements.

After the Americans attacked the Germans at the end.

During the short invasion, the people inside were well able to continue the fight. They had to be ordered by the high command to surrender. They did so only after 2/3 of France was overrun, and the Vichy government made peace. The Maginot line sure didn't cave in. It was the tactics around it that failed. Easy to say with hindsight, though at least one senior French army man thought the Ardennes would only take days to cross well prior to the event.

A bit noisy on the 1.5km electric train ride 

Sadly, the lines of chalk running through the rock expands with water. The constant expansion destroys the walls. A lot of the fort is not open for visiters.

I bet they ate well

Healthcare for all under the ground.