Rheims and the Battles for its Possession Part 26

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD MILL AT VERZENAY]

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 pa.s.sed 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), const.i.tute the princ.i.p.al 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PUISIEULX. THE CHURCH AND ROAD TO SILLERY]

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 pa.s.sing 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 sh.e.l.l-fire, the tourist reaches_ =Sillery=.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINED CHURCH OF TAISSY]

_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.

_Pa.s.s 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 ca.n.a.l, leads to the Church of St. Remi._

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHOIR OF TAISSY CHURCH]