Sadly, we had to leave Brugge this morning after three really wonderful, relaxing days! However, we're headed to some interesting places in the next week, so we're excited to be moving on! (FYI - I'm typing all of this as Tammy is driving, so hopefully I won't make too many typos!) :-)
Our first stop out of Brugge is the Waterloo Battlefield. If you've been following our trip, you're probably wondering what Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo has to do with the other WWI and WWII sites we've been visiting, and it doesn't! But we couldn't pass up a chance to see the famous Waterloo since it was on our way to more WWII sights; although, I have to admit, we both had to read up on it a bit beforehand. It's been quite awhile since either one of us studied Napoleon. :-)
Here's the rundown . . . Napoleon came to power as a result of his meteoric rise through the military at the end of the French Revolution. (For you non-history buffs, the French Revolution is where the people rose up against the excess and lavish lifestyles of the aristocracy and overthrew King Louis XVI; they eventually executed both Louis and his wife, Marie Antoinette.) Sadly, just a few years later, the French attempt at a democracy was halted when Napoleon named himself supreme ruler of France. Like many other arrogant warmongers, Napoleon's desire for more land and power got the best of him. After conquering much of Europe (like Hitler did 120 years later), Napoleon's downfall really began when he decided to invade Russia (again, like Hitler). Why don't these rulers ever learn?
Anyway, to make a long story a little bit shorter, Napoleon was forced to abdicate in 1814 after the failed campaign in Russia and was given rule over the island of Elba (sort of a house arrest - or island arrest). France moved its borders back to where they'd been before the expansion, Louis XVIII took the throne, and the Restoration of the Bourbons had begun. To the rest of Europe's chagrin, Napoleon escaped Elba after only a year and basically walked into Paris with no resistance. (In fact, the soldiers sent to arrest him actually joined him joyfully!) This reascension to power until his defeat at Waterloo became known as the "Hundred Days."
The Congress of Vienna (decision making body for much of Europe) decided that England, Prussia, Austria, and Russia should each send 150,000 men to invade France and depose Napoleon once and for all. Napoleon had two choices: wait for an offensive attack from the massive allied forces or head it off at the pass by attacking the English first, before they had a chance to be joined by the Prussians and other allies. He chose the latter, and this caused his infamous loss near Waterloo to the great Brit, the Duke of Wellington! On June 16, 185 the battle commenced, and by the end of the day 9,500 men from both sides were dead, and there were about 33,000 wounded. Napoleon escaped after the battle, fled to Paris, and abdicated a second time. He was imprisoned on the island of St. Helena until his death in 1821.
The pamphlet we picked up at the Waterloo memorial site says, "The victory dispatch, written by Wellington, was sent out from Waterloo, thus giving the battle its name. This event had enormous impact the world over. 124 towns or sites now bear the name Waterloo. (I did not know this!) The battlefield of Waterloo is . . . among the best preserved historical sites in Europe." Very interesting! (FYI - it was raining and the sky was so gray when we were there that my pictures looked horrible. So all the pics below of Waterloo are from the internet. Sorry about that.)
The memorial area is pretty compact; there is a small visitor's center that shows two different films, giving visitors an overview of the battle. There is also a very detailed panorama located in a huge round building (pic to the right); the panorama is a painted canvas that's 110 meters long and wraps around a central viewing platform.
Then there is the memorial itself; it's called The Lion Mound (see all the pics of green mound above). It is a huge mound that was created to honor the soldiers who lost their lives at the Battle of Waterloo. It's 41 meters high (226 steps to the summit), and it has an enormous cast iron lion standing atop it. From the top, you can see the well preserved battlefield where "300,000 men from 7 nations met in battle. The lion protects the globe and symbolizes new-found peace in Europe." Of course, we know that peace only lasted 100 years until WWI began, but it was still an important moment in European history. All in all, this was a quick and informative stop! I'm glad we took a couple of hours to swing by.
This is the view of the battlefield area as you look down from the Lion Mound. Beautiful farmland!
OK, so I'm going to fess up to this next thing even though it's going to tell you all what a big dork I am!!! All morning on the way to Waterloo, all I could do was sing the Abba song "Waterloo." Do you know it? If you saw the very end of the movie, Mamma Mia, then you've heard it! Play the video below and it'll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day! (Great movie, by the way!) :-) Tammy was just shaking her head the whole time I was singing as we were driving down the road! (I know my mom and sisters will sing along with me! They know this song!) :-)
Next up is Liege, Belgium, where the American Cemetery of the Ardennes is located. It has over 5,000 American soldiers from WWII buried here. Originally it was for soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge, but it seems at some point it became more of a cemetery for downed airmen from WWII. It is a huge, beautiful, park-like space. There is a long, wooded driveway, and then as you pull into the parking area, a huge white monument rises up to meet your gaze. (The pic to the left is from the internet. I wanted you to be able to see an aerial view of how large the cemetery and monument are.)
The monument has a huge eagle emerging from its center, in what looks to be a way of protecting the three people carved below it. They're doing some restoration work around the base of this monument, so we couldn't walk up the steps to see it close up.
The quoted info. below is from the American Battle Monuments Commision website: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ar.php. It tells you what we couldn't see because of the work.
"The approach drive at Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium leads to the memorial, a stone structure bearing on its façade a massive American eagle and other sculptures. Within the memorial is the chapel, three large wall maps composed of inlaid marbles, marble panels depicting combat and supply activities and other ornamental features. Along the outside of the memorial, 462 names are inscribed on the granite Tablets of the Missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The façade on the far north end, that overlooks the burial area, bears the insignia, in mosaic, of the major U.S. units that operated in northwest Europe in World War II. The 90-acre cemetery contains the graves of 5,323 of our military dead, many of whom died in the 1944 Ardennes winter offensive (Battle of the Bulge)."
We continued down the path lined with purple flowers and shrubs, until it opens onto the vast expanse of the cemetery filled with what feels like an unending mass of white marble crosses and starts. Unlike the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, there are no trees or shrubs to break up the sea of crosses. All the trees and foliage are located around the perimeter of the space
This marker had been freshly rubbed with sand so you can clearly see the name, rank, date of death, etc. The visitor's book had been signed earlier in the day by a family who mentioned that they were there to visit their grandfather's marker. Maybe this man was their relative.
The large monument in the background is the backside of the monument with the eagle. This side has the division insignias of all the men buried here.
Sadly, we've seen hundreds of these unknown markers in all the cemeteries we've visited. It just breaks my heart.
We wandered through the rows for about 20 minutes, just reading names, unknowns, and ranks. We actually saw two markers for men from Washington state. (One is in the pic to the right.) Those are the first Washingtonians we've seen in Europe. Most of the graves we've seen are for men from everywhere in the U.S. except the west coast. So that was kind of personal. It made it feel a little closer to home. This is a beautiful, although haunting place, and I'm glad we made the detour to come pay our respects.
This has been a long day of driving without much walking, so we'll be glad to get to Bastogne in about an hour and be able to set up our home base for the next three nights. You'd better read up on the Battle of the Bulge (WWII) because that's what our next two days will be about! :-)
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