Ouverage Du Hackenberg

Had ourselves a quiet morning, a wander round various parts of the City and I ended up going to the mail railway station to see the trains.  Bit of a rumpus going on as the French Rail Unions have called a strike for tomorrow.    This nothelping one of our group who has had to hand his replacement BMW bike in to dealers here in Metz to be returned to Milan.  he now has to make his way to Paris by hire car and then fly home to Ednburgh.

As the breakfast here in the hotel was excellent only a few of us joined George in the bar next door for a light lunch before setting off to Hackenberg.  George drove his car with the three ladies and six of us followed by bike,  certainly helps when someone knows the local roads, as our so called Sat Nav devices were sending us off in all directions.

We made it in time to get the English speaking tur and joined a few other, and in conversation we discovered that three of the men were members of the IPA and all serving Police Officers from Toronto area.
They had a load of badges in their car so we all received a small gift from them

The Ouverge du  Hackenberg is a massive underground gun battery, or a series of gun batteries spread over a very large are and linked by tunnels some 100 plus feet underground which stretch for several miles.  Our  Guide gave us an introduction and then we boarded the train which was used in the system during the war.  This particular complex of  gun turrets is part of the Maginot Line  which the French constructed as a defensive against the Germans.  Howvewr it did not take the French long to surrender their positions and the Germans took them over until the Yanks arrived.

At one point of the tour we were taken to the surface in the ammunition lifts which, like the gun turret they supplied was still in good working order- we even had a demonstration of the turret rising and then turning, amazing.
Obviously there are more photographs but at this late hour it is not possible to add them

After the tour, then to the museum, etc we left and were guided back to Metz by our IPA friend, George - once again baffling the sat nav by taking short cuts.

We have once again been fed and watered and are now preparing for a long 270 mile to Dunkirk tomorrow.