This memorial is dedicated to the Pommiès Free Corps (Corps Franc Pommiès or CFP), a prestigious detachment of the Résistance who, by sabotaging the Hispano-Suiza (Alstom) factory, spared the population the cruel consequences of aerial bombardment during the Second World War.

This army, organised by General André Pommiès turned the Magnoac region into a hard nucleus of the French Résistance. Born in 1904 in Bordeaux, Lieutenant Colonel Pommiès had trained in the information services, retaining his military contacts and a sense of organisation.

In 1940, Pommiès refused to accept the defeat. He was given the task of secretly mobilising an army in the High and Low Pyrenees, the Landes and the Gers regions.

The Free Corps was very actively involved in the liberation of the country. In fact, the Pommiès Free Corps was one of the main constituents of the Army Résistance Organisation (Organisation de Résistance de l'Armée or "ORA") in the southern zone.

On the very day the Army was disbanded, 17 November 1942, Captain André Pommiès decided to create a Free Corps on the territory of the 17th and 18th military divisions (the south west). In each département, an officer was appointed to set up a clandestine unit. For two years, "maquisards" (members of the Résistance) from the Free Corps were used in transporting weapons and equipment, parachute drops and sabotage of the principal means of transport and energy production used by the occupying forces in the region. At the end of 1943, the southern zone was 30,000 strong and the northern zone 15,000.

Alerted by messages from the BBC, on 6 June 1944 Pommiès called on all his personnel (12,000 men) to use guerrilla tactics and intensify their destructive actions. After the Allied landings in Provence on 15 August 1944, battles for liberation succeeded guerrilla warfare. The Pommiès Free Corps took Auch, Pau and Tarbes. He was then given the mission of preventing members of the Wehrmacht, the Gestapo and collaborators from crossing to Spain. Whilst one section of the forces of the Pommiès Free Corps was maintained in the Pyrenees to guard the border, the other sections headed to the northeast. After crossing France, they met up with the army of General de Lattre de Tassigny at Autun and took part in the fighting for the liberation of the town between 7 and 9 September 1944.

On 24 September, fighters from the Pommiès Free Corps were incorporated into the body of the 1st Army. Now having become regular soldiers, they took part in the Vosges campaign and then that of the Alsace, most famously taking the strategic heights of le Drumont and le Gommkopf. In February 1945, the Pommiès Free Corps became the 49th Infantry Regiment (49e Régiment d'Infanterie or 49e RI), a former regiment of Bayonne with a glorious past, adopting its flag with a black star. On 1 April, the regiment arrived in Germany and advanced towards its final objective, Stuttgart, which it took on 21 April 1945. From its foundation up until the Liberation, the C.F.P was to carry out 900 military operations. The human cost was particularly heavy: 387 killed and 156 deported.
On 6 June, former members of the network came to join in private prayer during an anniversary ceremony. In June 2003 a museum area was opened in the café "Bouges" in the centre of Castelnau-Magnoac, which served as a letter drop for the maquis (Resistance fighters).
 

Memorial and museum of the Pommiès Free Corps

Esplanade Village 65230 Castelnau-Magnoac

Tel: + 33 (0) 5 62 99 81 41

Site du musée

Tourist Information Office

Maison du Magnoac 65230 Cizos

Tel. + 33 (0) 5.62.39.86.61

Fax: + 33 (0) 5.62.39.81.60

Tourist Office

3, Cours Gambetta 65000 Tarbes

Tel.: + 33 (0) 5.62.51.30.31

Fax: + 33 (0) 5.62.44.17.63

E-mail: accueil@tarbes.com

Located in a magnificent green setting in the heart of the city, the Massey Museum was born out of the dreams and desires of a man from Tarbes, Placide Massey. Placide Massey was the manager of the Le Trianon tree nursery and the vegetable garden of the Queen at Versailles. On his retirement he decided to build a villa on land purchased in Tarbes, where he had already created a park planted with rare species. On his death in1853, he bequeathed some of his properties to the city of Tarbes: a remarkable garden and an unfinished project for a museum, an oriental style building, dominated by an observation tower looking on to the Pyrenees, the work of the architect Jean- Jacques Latour. The town has since fulfilled the gardener's dream: the rare species garden has now been given the label of "remarkable garden" and is open for everyone to enjoy and the museum has been given the label "Museum of France".

The Massey Museum is closed to the public as the building and its collections are currently undergoing a large-scale phase of reconstruction and renovation.
In 2005 the works were entrusted to the Parisian architectural firm Dubois et Associés, who have outstanding references testifying to their sound experience in redeveloping museums: the Museum of Fine Arts in Caen, Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon and the Toulouse Lautrec Museum in Albi. In 2009 the Massey Museum's collections were transferred to modern and practical stores installed on the site of the former weapons store, the 103. This completely renovated former tobacco factory is now a "centre for conservation and heritage studies" and is also home to the city's archives. Now emptied of all its objects, the Museum can at last undergo a face lift. The work that started in June 2009 will be finished at the end of 2011. The façade already offers a glimpse of the quality of the restoration work in anticipation of the interior renovations. The public will be able to visit a modern building designed to respond to the requirements for conservation of the public collections, as a record of society and respond to the expectations of as wide an audience as possible. Everyone, whether or not they are an expert, should be able to experience a moment of pleasure, conviviality or culture in this magnificent setting.
The tour covers the first two floors where the museum's two largest collections are to be displayed: the historical collection of the Hussars and the fine arts collection. The ground floor and some of the first floor will be devoted to the history of the hussars. The two large rooms on the first floor have been reserved for displaying the fine arts collections. 1 - The international Hussars collection: The Hussars collection was built up from 1955 onwards by Marcel Boulin, who was then the museum curator. This collection, which is now of international importance, links the breeding of Anglo-Arab horses with the presence of the regiments of Hussars in garrisons in Tarbes. The public displays in the new museum will present the chronological history of the Hussars from 1545 to 1945.
The major stages in the museum tour will put the emphasis on the tactical originality which gave birth to the "hussar phenomenon", to its expansion across the world from the 16th to the 20th centuries and to the continuity of its Hungarian origins in the identity and the role of Tarbes as a place where this is preserved for France. Two hundred full-sized models and busts, six hundred weapons and a hundred paintings by artists such as Horace Vernet, Ernest Meissonnier and Edouard Detaille will tell the eventful history of the hussars from thirty different countries. Epic events as well as more personal ones will be recalled through accurate text, original exhibits, specially selected illustrations and the use of new multimedia technology.
2 - The fine arts collection Achille Jubinal, a lover of art and Member of Parliament for the Hautes-Pyrénées département, was the founder in the 19th century of the Massey Museum's fine arts collection. He formed his collection of major works from the Italian school of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch and Flemish schools of the 16th and 17th centuries and the French schools of the 18th and 19th centuries through an intermediary network of friends and political connections. His initiative led to further donations, such as those from the Fould family and the Academic Society of the Hautes-Pyrénées. Other important works granted by the State came to further enrich the collections. In the new rooms on the first floor the Massey Museum will display a selection of the most distinctive works. The setting up of temporary exhibitions will provide a greater insight into the works held in the stores. The public will thus be invited to discover and enjoy the masterpieces displayed on a themed tour, where mythology and the religious arts have an important place.
Massey Museum Mairie de Tarbes Massey Museum- BP 1329 65013 TARBES cedex 09 Tel.: + 33 (0)5.62.44.36.90 E-mail: musee@mairie-tarbes.fr

Coll de Ladrones Fort (Thieves Pass Fort), the engineer Don Juan Martinez Zermeno's first piece of work, is evidence of the Spanish royal family's desire to control the kingdom's northern frontier.

It is the counterpart to Portalet Fort and was modified in the 19th century.

The construction of Coll de Ladrones Fort (Thieves Pass Fort) began during the 18th century when the Spanish royal family realised that France posed a threat to them in the Aragonese Pyrenees (French Pyrenées-Atlantiques): in 1749 the French road terminated at Peña de Aret. The fortified towns of Candanchou and Canfranc and the Especlunca tower which defended the Canfranc Valley had been abandoned. Don Juan Martinez Zermeno, Vauban's Spanish counterpart, drew the plans for Coll de Ladrones Fort during the winter of 1751, and then reinforced them with a series of fortified barracks. Work began the following year to be completed in 1758 and was supervised by Don Pascual de Navas.

The fort was designed to a horse-shoe plan. The eastern side is flanked by two half bastions on the corners. The central building consists of seven covered vaults supporting a terrace to be used as lodgings (troops, guards, sergeants, governor and officers) and to house the chapel and arms room. The building was designed to cope with a siege: it had a water tank and was heavily armed. However, it was ineffective due to its construction: poor quality materials were used and firing lines were considered excessively steep. The fort was abandoned in 1777.

Minor use was made of the site once again as a reaction to campaigns during the French Revolution and the Empire. The site, which was essential for the control of Canfranc valley, was initially reoccupied to a basic extent before being refitted from 1808 at which time Portalet, the rival fort, was linked to the hinterland by a new road between Urdo and Etsaut. It was not until 1876 that threats from France began to concern the Spanish authorities: the road constructed as a reaction to French attacks was completed. It therefore needed to be protected.

San Gil produced plans for two small forts, the road and levelling for the new fort at Coll de Ladrones. The project was approved by Royal order, by Rodriguez himself, on 4 August 1888, and work began, to be completed two years later. Of the original fort, only the northern walls and the adjoining vault were retained.

The new construction was made up of two two-storey buildings. It was capable of housing 200 troops (150 infantrymen and 50 artillerymen) and was faced in local stone. It was equipped with four guns dug into the rock, pointing north. A gallery with arrow slits, opened in the rock, led down to a battery located above the river. The attacking face of the fort was to the east, with a glacis in front of it. The entrance was protected by a caponier and flanked by a gallery with arrow slits.

Coll de Ladrones fort was used from time to time until 1961 when it was definitively abandoned and sold by the Spanish Ministry of Defence. The Fusiliers' Tower, which was contemporary to it, was constructed by order of Felipe II to defend the border passage.

The Fusiliers' Tower has been restored recently and now houses a permanent information centre for the Tunnel du Somport work sites, with an informative exhibition on this major civil engineering project.

Aspe Valley Tourist Office

Place Sarraillé 64490 Bedous

Tel: 00 33 (0)5 59 34 57 57

E-mail: aspe.tourisme@wanadoo.fr

Aragon Valley Tourism Association

Plaza Ayuntamiento, 1. 22880 Canfranc Estación (Huesca)

Tel: +34 974-372184

Fax: +34 974-372185

E-mail: atva@valledelaragon.com

Guided tours (only) from 10am to 1pm and 5pm to 7pm Monday to Saturday, and from 10am to 1pm on Sundays

Mont-Valérien was a medieval hermitage and later a popular place of pilgrimage from the 17th to 19th centuries. In the middle of 19th century one of the forts forming part of the Parisian belt was built there. During the Second World War, the site was the German authorities' principal place for executions in France. From 1944 onwards, thanks to support from General de Gaulle and the work of the organisations of the families of those who were shot, it became a memorial site. The Mémorial de la France combattante was built there in 1960 and in 2010 new museum exhibition areas were opened.

Throughout the Second World War, Mont-Valérien was used by the Germans as a place for executing resistance fighters and hostages. The prisoners were shot in a sunken glade. Recent historical research has allowed the identification of more than a thousand of those who were shot.

On the 1st November 1944, General de Gaulle paid tribute to the dead of the Résistance by first of all engaging in private prayer in the glade at Mont-Valérien, before continuing to the fort at Vincennes, another place where shootings were carried out in Paris, and finally to the cemetery in Ivry-sur-Seine, the main burial place of those from the Île-de-France area who were shot. In 1945, Mont-Valérien was chosen by General de Gaulle as the site of the monument to those who died in the 1939-1945 war.

The bodies of fifteen servicemen, symbolising the various forms of combat carried out for the Liberation, were placed in a temporary crypt and joined in 1952 by a sixteenth body representing soldiers in Indochina who fought against the Japanese. A 17th vault was later prepared to receive the remains of the last Companion of the Liberation.

In 1954, an urn containing the ashes of deportees was placed in the crypt. Having become President of the Republic, General de Gaulle decided to create the Mémorial de la France combattante, which was designed by Félix Brunau and inaugurated on the 18th June 1960.

At the beginning of 2000, it was decided to build a monument to those who were shot at Mont-Valérien, which was designed by Pascal Convert. Engraved upon it are all the names of those shot at Mont-Valérien, along with a dedication: "To the resistance fighters and hostages shot at Mont-Valérien by Nazi troops 1940-1944 and to all those who have never been identified".

For a long time Mont-Valérien has remained just as it was, which gives it a great evocative power. Since 2006, the site has been the subject of a special drive by the remembrance, heritage and archives department of the Ministry of Defence to carry out developments to provide the general public with the written resources necessary for an understanding of this important and complex, unrecognised place of national remembrance.

Located on the esplanade of the Mémorial de la France combattante, the information centre allows visitors to consulter biographical papers, as well as digitalised letters, photographs, and archive and Ile-de-France documents about those who were shot, using interactive terminals.

A special area is devoted to the Companions of the Liberation. In addition, there are screens showing archive images of the history of the shootings and about the Mémorial de la France combattante and the ceremonies that have been held there. A permanent exhibition "Résistance and repression 1940-1944" is held in the old stable building. Dedicated to the Résistance, those who were shot and repression in the Ile-de-France area, it helps to put Mont-Valérien in a historical and geographical context.

The exhibition thus retraces the development of the policies of repression and the journey of those who were shot, from their arrest and internment up to their execution. It shows the various places of imprisonment, execution and burial in the Ile-de-France. The central part is more intimate and dedicated to the last letters of those who were shot, the last traces left for their families, which bear witness to the commitment and martyrdom of these men.
 

Le Mont Valérien

Avenue du Professeur Léon Bernard 92150 Suresnes

Tel.: + 33 (0) 1 47 28 46 35

Email: info@montvalerien.fr

Tours of Mont-Valérien are free and guided; they last an hour and thirty minutes and are at set times, every day except Monday: Low Season*: 10h00, 15h00 High season*: 9h30-11h00, 14h30-16h00 Groups of more than 10 people by appointment only

The reception and information Centre is open every day except Monday, Low season*: 9 am to 12 pm and 1pm to 5 pm High season*: 9 am to 12 pm and 1pm to 6 pm Low season: November-February, July-August High season: March-June, September-October

How to get to the Memorial BY TRAIN: The Paris Saint Lazare to Versailles line to Suresnes station BY RATP: RER line A La Défense or line no. 1 La Défense and then bus no. 360 (Mont Valérien or Hôpital Foch Cluseret stops) BY TRAMWAY: Val de Seine T2 La Défense to Issy-les-Moulineaux - Suresnes: Longchamp Station BY CAR: Porte Maillot - Pont de Suresnes The site is closed to the public on the 1st January, 15th August, 1st November and 25th and 31th December.

It is protected from above by Coll des Ladrones and Tourelle des Fusiliers Forts. It shows that Vauban's military methods for defending positions had spread far and wide. The Spanish citadel at Jaca is a pentagonal construction with defensive ramparts at each corner linked by a wall walk. Felipe II (Philip II) ordered its construction in a suburb of Jaca in the 17th century, fearing an invasion by French heretics.

Building commenced in 1595, using plans drawn by Tiburcio Spanoqui, and was completed in the 18th century. The inside of the citadel is accessed via a mannerism-style gate featuring the shield of the Austrians. Jaca Citadel and its counterpart in Liège, Belgium, are the only fully preserved pentagonal-type citadels still standing.

It was declared an artistic monument in 1951 and restored in 1968. It was also awarded the European prize.
 

Its exterior protection system is built around a ditch. The Cour d'Armes is formed of a double arch, and alternate pointed arches and basket-handle arches supported by pillars with stone bases and brick tops.

The 17th-century church is dedicated to San Pedro, with a notable baroque gate and wall paintings by Topete.

Aragon Valley Tourism Association

Plaza Ayuntamiento,1. Bajos. 22880 Canfranc Estación (Huesca)

Tel: +34 974-372184

Fax: +34 974-372185

Email: atva@valledelaragon.com

Opening hours 11am to 12.30pm and 5pm to 6.30pm

This chapel, now fully restored, was erected in 1927. It is unique in the annals of aviation. It renders homage to the pioneers of aviation who have died between 1912 and the present day.

In 1908, the village of Lescar hosted the first flying school ran by the Wright Brothers. It was there on 9 January 1909 that they succeeded the first 7 minutes flights, then 4 minutes. This was also the school that trained the first three French pilots: Paul Tissandier, Count de Lambert and Captain Lucas Girardville.

The 100 acres of the Pont-Long airstrip prefigured the current school of airborne troops (ETAP). The site is maintained by the Aviation Memorial Chapel Friendly Society and the Guynemer Hangar.

Aviation Memorial Chapel

Route d'Uzein 64230 Lescar

Tel: +33 (0)5 59 77 83 32

Open Thursday 10.00 am to 12.00 pm and 2-6 pm

Visits by appointment

Admission: Free

Mobile: +33 (0)6 13 69 21 67

Website: www.aviation-memorial.com

Fort du Portalet, in the Pyrénées-Atlantique, was designed to defend the road from le Somport (Aspe Valley) and is famous for having been used as a prison for Léon Blum, Edouard Daladier, Georges Mandel and Paul Reynaud in 1941 and 1942 and later for Marshal Pétain. It was built following an order given by Louis-Philippe on the 22nd July 1842 to protect the Pyrenees border from a possible Spanish invasion.

The structure was built at an altitude of 765 metres on a cliff on the right bank of the Gave d'Aspe, downriver from Urdos. It takes its name from the former medieval commercial toll bridge, le "Portalet", of La Porte d'Aspe, situated 100 metres further down. The accommodation comprises a barracks for the troops and officers' lodge, both built on two levels. A small upper fort of three bastions equipped with batteries, protects the lanes from the le Rouglan plateau and la Mâture. The road and the Urdos were covered by the creation of crenulated galleries carved into the rock. Equipped with around ten canons, the stronghold could accommodate more than 400 men and seal off access for a siege lasting at least a week.
The 18th Infantry Regiment of Pau was stationed there from 1871; it remained there until 1925. From there, it saw action from 1875 to 1876 against Spanish Carlist soldiers. On the eve of the First World War, the fort was left in civilian hands and remained so until 1940, when the Vichy regime interned those people deemed to be "responsible for the defeat" following the Riom trial. Amongst them were Léon Blum, Edouard Daladier, Georges Mandel, Paul Reynaud and Maurice Gamelin. When, in November 1942, the Free Zone was invaded, the sector was used as a position for German troops. The fort was liberated on the 24th August 1944 by Resistance fighters from Aspe and Spanish Guerillas. Following the liberation, between August and November 1945, le Portalet was used as a place of internment for Marshal Pétain before he was transferred to the island of Yeu.
Aspe Valley Tourist Information Office Place Sarraillé 64490 Bedous Tel.: + 33 (0) 5 59 34 57 57 Email: aspe.tourisme@wanadoo.fr

The capital of the Basse-Navarre and an important crossing route over the Pyrenees, Saint Jean Pied de Port, known in Basque as Donibane Garazi, was founded at the end of the 12th Century under the reign of the last kings of Navarre to protect the course of the river and access to the Roncevaux and Bentarte passes. Built on the site of the former fortified château of the kings of Navarre, the Citadel, which has recently been restored, looks over the walled town. It is a fine example of the defensive system of "Vauban-style" fortifications, with a glacis, moats, walls flanked by bastions with arrow loops, firearms, swing bridges, draw bridges and portcullis.

Constructed by Chevalier Deville in 1628 under the reign of Richelieu, during a time of religious wars and Franco-Spanish conflicts, it was later modified by Vauban. Vauban improved the defensive system, which consisted of four bastions, and planned outlying forts such as the redoubts, as well as the fortification of the whole of the town - only the first part of the project would be carried out. It is accessed by a ramp. In the western demi-lune there is a view over the town and the Cize basin. Around the internal courtyard and against the ramparts constructed above the underground vaulted casemates, are huddled the barracks, the governor's quarters and chapel, the powder stores and the well.
It was from this military position that in 1793 and 1794 all the expeditions against Spain were carried out, during which the Volunteers and later, the 10 companies of Basque Chasseurs distinguished themselves under the command of the would-be Marshal Harispe. In 1814, the Citadel did not succumb under pressure from Anglo-Hispanic-Portuguese troops and the war ended before it surrendered. During the 1914-18 war, German prisoners and French disciplinarians were held there. The premises would be used as a barracks until 1923.
Between 1936 and 1939, having become council property, the Citadel accommodated 500 Basque refugee children fleeing from the Spanish Civil War. The fortress is now home to a secondary education college.
Mairie de Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 13 place Charles de Gaulle 64220 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Tél. : 05.59.37.00.92 Fax : 05.59.37.99.78 E-mail : mairie.stjeanpieddeport@wanadoo.fr Horaires d'ouverture du lundi au vendredi de 08h30 à 12h00 et de 14h00 à 17h30 Tourist Information Office 14, Place Charles de Gaulle 64220 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Tel. +33 (0) 5 59 37 03 57 Fax: +33 (0) 5 59 37 34 91 E-mail:saint.jean.pied.de.port@wanadoo.fr

Fort de Socoa in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a fine example of the combination of medieval military architecture and the Vauban-style system of fortifications. The border with the empire of Charles Quint became a concern for the kings of France from the 16th century onwards. The Basque region, a natural route towards Spain, was visited by several engineers. Henri IV wanted to build a fortress to protect Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the surrounding towns from Spanish invasion. However, a conflict of interests between the communities delayed the project, which was finally carried out by Louis XIII. In 1636, the Spanish invaded the coast, carried out building work and renamed the citadel "Fort de Castille". As a result of military reversals, the region returned to French sovereignty. The fort was finished and took the name Socoa. In 1686, Vauban, on an inspection visit in the Pyrenees, visited the Basque Country. He then suggested strengthening the Fort de Socoa by using the ruins left by the Spanish following the Thirty Years War. The engineer planned to construct a security jetty to improve access to the fort.

Construction work, which began shortly afterwards, lasted until 1698. It was managed by Fleury. As far as alterations were concerned, the tower was raised in height to two floors, which he crowned with parapets and a machicolation. The site also had a barracks and a chapel. The main enclosure, which was subsequently altered, would take on its present form under the Regency (1723). Besieged once more by the Spanish in 1793, the fort was occupied by British troops in 1814 who used it as a sort of defensive support for the bay, a place for supplying the men stationed inland. Once peace was restored, Fort de Socoa was repaired between 1816 and 1817.
Municipal Tourist Information Place Royale Telephone: +33 (0) 5 59 27 27 08 Fax: + 33 (0) 5 59 27 03 21 e-mail:omt@ville-pau.fr

Biarritz, a little whaling village, quickly became a popular holiday destination under the influence of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.

In 1854, Napoleon III bought 20 hectares (50 acres) of land near the village of Biarritz and built the Villa Eugenie, the present-day Hôtel Impérial. The imperial chapel was built on the imperial domain in Biarritz by the architect Boeswillwald in 1865, at the imperial request of Eugenie de Montijo. It combines Romanesque-Byzantine and Hispano-Moorish styles. It is dedicated to the Mexican Black Madonna, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and was classified as a historic monument in 1981.

Built in brick, it comprises a single nave preceded by a porch and terminating in a semicircular apse. The interior is particularly remarkable: it combines different historicist styles and uses a variety of techniques and materials: azulejos, murals and enamel medallions. The painting by Steinheil in the semi-dome is the high point of the décor.

The building is undergoing a restoration campaign carried out by the Ministry of Culture’s Historic Monuments Service.

The Imperial Chapel

Rue Pellot 64200 Biarritz

Tel.: +33 (0)5 59 22 37 10

Opening Hours

Closed in January and February

March – November – December: Saturdays from 2.30 pm to 5.00 pm

April – May – October: Saturdays from 2.30 pm to 6.00 pm

June – July – August – September: Thursdays and Saturdays from 2.30 pm to 6.00 pm

Biarritz Town Hall

64200 Biarritz

Tel.: +33 (0)5 59 41 59 41

Castrum de Lapurdum, whose ruins can still be seen around the cathedral in Bayonne, already demonstrated its military purpose in Roman times. Over the centuries the town, a strategic crossing point towards Spain and a control point for river communications between the seafront and the inland region, was provided with significant defensive fortifications. The ramparts, as well as three fortified structures - the Château Vieux, the Château Neuf and the Citadel, all of which have for the most part been preserved - bear witness to this.

From the 15th century onwards, when Dunois' armies seized Bayonne on behalf of the King of France, Charles VII, the position of Bayonne became strategic. François 1st therefore equipped the town with a fort. Vauban modernised it from 1680 onwards. His arrival in the Pyrenees led to the redesigning of the system of defence for the Spanish border, in which Bayonne became the linchpin, supported by the citadels of Navarrenx and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. He supervised the construction and strengthening of the ramparts and gates. He also built and consolidated the buildings of the Château Vieux. The town's surrounding wall was also repaired and the old dungeon inside was demolished. Of particular note is the citadel he created on the right bank of the Adour, the Château Neuf. His accomplice, Ferry, oversaw the works. The citadel was in use in the 18th century and, in 1750, a garrison of 2,000 men was stationed there. In order to support the citadel, subsequent engineers built redoubts in the surrounding area to defend the town's Southern flanks. The Bayonne citadel saw its last military action in 1814 during confrontations between the Anglo-Hispanic-Portuguese troops led by Wellington and those of Marshal Soult. The premises are currently occupied by the 1st Marine Parachute Infantry Regiment (1er RPIMa). The citadel can be visited during open houses.
Office du tourisme Place des Basques - BP 819 64108 Bayonne cedex - France Tel. 05 59 46 09 00 E-mail : info@visitbayonne.com

The town of Seyre near Nailloux preserves the memory of some one hundred German Jewish children who stayed here. They stayed from the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1941 and left lively drawings on the walls of the Château’s outbuildings.

Having become orphans after Kristallnacht and the wave of anti-Semitic actions that swept over Nazi Germany, many German Jewish children sought refuge in England, Belgium and France, where they were taken care of by charitable organisations.

Driven out of Belgium by the Wehrmacht’s offensive of May 1940, one hundred of them between the ages of 3 and 15 travelled for six days in cattle cars to Villefranche de Lauragais and then Seyre (10 km south of Villefranche de Lauragais and 4 km from Nailloux).

Upon their arrival, the mayor of Seyre and the owner of the Château and its outbuildings, Mr Capèle, took charge of them; at the time the latter held a high position in the French Red Cross.

The refugees’ living conditions were very modest for the eighty-five people (children and their caregivers): two rooms, a kitchen and toilets in the courtyard, no water and no heating.

Finding supplies was the main problem. The Swiss Red Cross, with which Mr Capel d'Hautpoul had contacts, sent sugar and powdered milk, but most of the food had to be found on site, which was very difficult. The basic foodstuff was boiled maize, called milla. The harsh winter of 1940-1941 led the Swiss Red Cross to find more comfortable lodgings for them.

The Château de La Hille in Ariège was chosen. On the walls of the village and the building, which is still called “the orphanage” to this day, the children left several colour drawings, such a the “Little Pigs”, a cat with a violin, the church and a watermill.

Town Hall

31560 Seyre

Tel.: +33 (0)5.62.71.26.25

The Sucy-en-Brie Fort forms part of the second fortified belt around Paris. This defensive system was created by Général Séré de Rivières to supplement the one established on the new Eastern frontier after 1871.

Between 1870 and 1871, the Germans made the village of Sucy one of the strong points of their lines of trenches. The High Command had learned lessons from the siege of Paris in 1870, and decided to build a line of eighteen structures to keep any possible assailants at a distance. For the Fort at Sucy, it was a question of having, beneath its artillery fire, lines of penetration, consisting of trunk roads from Paris to Strasbourg (N°4) and Mulhouse (N° 19). In effect, from this position, the Prussians could bombard the St-Maur peninsula. It should also prevent the opening up of the Notre-Dame woods, an extension of the Armainvilliers forest, where the enemy could position itself in case of siege.
Built between 1879 and 1881, it cost almost 20,000 Euros and is constructed in stonework and protected by mounds of earth, that should allow it to be subjected to the impact of gun powder shelling, without suffering any damage. But very quickly, picric acid came to render these defences insufficient and the forts, though barely finished, had to be reinforced with concrete; most of the forts in the east had to do this. The 1911 project allowed for 4,300 Euros of modernisation works. Three concrete rampart shelters, two machine gun turrets and some observation posts were to be established. In 1914, the fort had only 14 cannons on the ramparts and 10 in its caponiers. Because of a lack of funds, the forts in the Ile-de-France were not modernised: In October 1913, it was planned to establish 75 mm anti-aircraft cannons on a base in the fort, but at the end of 1914 a 110 cm projector was installed; two 75 mm anti-aircraft guns were however installed in 1915.
Apart from the installation of heavy D.C.A. cannons around 1935, the Fort at Sucy was little used during the two world wars. Despite the destruction of the barracks' munitions depot on the 22nd August 1944, it has been left in perfect condition with its original features: entrance building, casemates in the trench and shooting galleries etc. Originally, this fort with a central section had a front, two flanks and a gorge in two parts, separated by a two caponiers, a basic one and one with a gorge; the whole thing was surrounded by a trench 9 metres wide. The double gorge caponier had the distinctive feature of being traversed by the entrance and attached to the front of the guard-house. The entrance was closed by a moving bridge and had a strange crenulated chest in front in the counterscarp. However, as the scarp was semi-detached and 4.5 m high, it was poorly protected from enemy shelling, which could graze the top of the counterscarp at a height of just 5 m. The ramparts had 11 cross-sections with shelters. Two cross-sections served as casemates for cannon. The barracks, situated under the central section with a magazine of 67 tonnes of gunpowder, could shelter 372 men and 10 officers, a tank and various magazines. Abandoned by the army and invaded by vegetation, it was bought by the town of Sucy in 1970. Since 1996, a voluntary association has been trying to make the Fort look as it did originally and bring it back to life.
The fort at Sucy-en-Brie allée du général Séré de Rivière 94370 Sucy en Brie "Fort de Sucy" Association 11, rue Lacarrière 94370 Sucy-en-Brie Tel.: 01.45.90.26.48Sucy-en-Brie Town Hall Tel. 01 49 82 24 50 Fax 01 49 82 24 61 Tours Guided tours on the first Sunday of every month at 3 pm. For groups (more than 15 people), booking is required.

Click here to tour Champigny Crypt online. Champigny-sur-Marne was often called Champigny-la-Bataille between 1870-1871 and 1914-1918, in reference to the fiercest battle of the Siege of Paris, which unfurled from 30 November to 2 December 1870.

The victims were given a decent and final funeral in community cemeteries around Champigny once peace was restored. Seine departmental authorities also decided to build a memorial to the memory of the unknown French and German soldiers that had died during that battle, and the French Government built a crypt around it. The several thousand soldiers that had fought each other outside, in other words, rest side by side within. Alfred Rivière, an architect, designed this memorial and supervised the building work.
This strikingly stark monument stands on a 925.75 sq m plot of land. A Lorraine-stone stele with a square base stands 5.75 metres high. A low pyramid stands on four heads, with leaves on the corner encircling the base with a crown. There is a shield protecting a palm leaf on the side facing the street. Bas-relief wreaths adorn the sides and back. There is one stark and concise inscription: Monument élevé par l'Etat à la mémoire des soldats morts pendant le siège de Paris bataille de Champigny (This monument was erected by the State to the memory of the soldiers that lay down their lives during the Siege of Paris, Battle of Champigny). The crypt is a vast rectangular gallery (2.60 metres wide) around the monument. The base at the back runs alongside the street and measures 30.5 metres. The widthways galleries that intersect it are 19.5 metres long each. These underground corridors nestle 31 vaults. Through a wrought-iron gate in the middle, you can see the stone altar of a small oratory. Belgian-granite plaque bear the names and numbers of the corps that took part.
Outside, a heavy iron fence embedded in stone pillars skirts the road and encloses the memorial. Two doors open into the galleries. Le talus of the platform covering the crypt is coated in stone along the galleries. It features two granite staircases which originally led to the garden, which has since become a terrace over the building and around the stele.
The ossuary's front wall has a stone plaque bearing the following inscription in French and German: Des combattants français et allemands inconnus tombés au cours de la bataille de Champigny-sur-Marne pendant le siège de Paris 1870-1871 reposent en cet ossuaire (French and German soldiers fallen during the battle of Champigny during the 1870-1871 siege of Paris rest in this ossuary).
Four period cannons stand on the four corners of the terrace. There are two similar cannons on either side of the front courtyard. There are three deep sloped and shouldered trenches around the building, adjoining the fences. The upper left-hand side has been turned into a grass garden terrace with trees, and there is a retaining wall by the road.
This building dates back to 1873. The crypt was built at a later stage and inaugurated on 2 December 1878. The governments of France and the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to fund necessary restoration work in 1968-1969 to keep alive the memory of their dead.
Champigny Crypt Memorial (Monument commémoratif de la crypte de Champigny) 32 Rue du Monument 94500 Champigny sur Marne

The Espace Aimé Césaire, a new exhibition space open to the public (click here for information)

The Musée de la Résistance Nationale (MRN) is a collective whose purpose is to cater for one essential need: to pass on the history and memory of the Resistance.

The museum space and learning area

This building, with 1 000 m2 of exhibition space on three floors and a 120-seat auditorium, houses the new museum and learning areas, as well as the temporary exhibitions of the new MRN.
The building’s ideal location in the centre of Champigny-sur-Marne makes the MRN more accessible by public transport and closer to its audience.
With its rich collection, the new permanent exhibition presents all the aspects and key issues of the history and remembrance of the Resistance. A cultural programme adds to the content on offer to visitors and individuals keen to gain a better understanding of modern-day issues in the light of that history.
The Espace Aimé Césaire also offers a scientific programme, making the latest advances in research more accessible.

Espace Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac: the research and conservation centre 

The continuing expansion of the collection since 1965 (approximately 250 000 items in 1985; nearly one million today) meant that new storage areas had to be provided for in the new museum buildings.
Therefore, the old site, on Avenue Marx-Dormoy, became a conservation and consultation centre for the collections, as well as the head office of the project’s two mother organisations.
Altogether, the MRN’s collection, which since November 2000 has been dependent on an agreement with the National Archives, was constituted by more than 5 000 donations. It offers an exceptional insight into the history of the French Resistance, its remembrance and the historical works it has inspired. Its scale and diversity present the stories of thousands of Resistance members: men and women; French citizens, immigrants and foreigners; famous and anonymous.

To fly like a bird and get closer to the stars the human dreamed, invented, then constructed any kind of machines : balloons, planes, helicopters, rockets, satellites. This is the history of a dream, which is finally attained and which is told by the air and space museums

The French air and space museum is the most ancient aeronautic museum of the world. It recounts the amazing adventure of the pioneers from the beginning of our century, the beginning of a long journey which will lead 50 years later the man to walk on the moon.
Created after the First World war it will be built in the Brouget airport in 1975. Since the opening of the great gallery where the most ancient machines are exhibited, and the inauguration in April 1995 of the two new halls, the air and space museum shows through a collection of almost 200 machines and 300 artistic objects a complete panorama of the aerospace, starting from the first balloons in 1793 and ending with the Ariane 5. rocket.
Address : Air and space museum (Musée de l'air et de l'espace) Airport Paris - Le Bourget BP 173 93 352 Le Bourget cedex Information : +33 (O)1 49 92 70 00 Home : +33 (O)1 49 92 70 62 E-mail : ecrire@museeairespace.fr Timetable : The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday : 10:00 to 18:00, 1 April to 30 September and from 10:00 to 17:00 from October 1 to March 31. Closed Mondays. Exceptional closing December 25 and January 1 Public Transports : Motorway: from the A1, exit Bourget; from the A3, exit Blanc-Mesnil RER (Train) : line B, stop "gare du Bourget" then take bus number 152. Subway : line 7. Tariffs : Access to permanent collections is free. For entertainment, visit the museum.

Built after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, the Fort at Champigny-sur-Marne was intended for the protection of the capital. It forms part of the first defensive network designed by Séré de Rivières. It was built between 1878 and 1880 and has a surface area of 4 hectares. Its position was determined by lessons learned from the war: in December 1870 the Prussians had established two batteries just to the west of this site. Listed as of secondary importance by the legislation of 1874, its role was to block the railway line towards Troyes and to occupy the position of the Prussian batteries of 1870.

This fort with a central section is made up of a front, two flanks and a gorge. The trench, which is edged by a counterscarp and a semi-detached scarp, is separated by two caponiers, a basic one and one with a gorge. The ridge of the rampart is intersected by 13 cross sections, 6 of which have shelters. One of the northern cross sections houses the powder magazine (capacity of 80 tonnes). A passage underneath one of the southern cross sections was built in such a way as to serve as a casemate against indirect fire. The trench is crossed by a wooden bridge, but the entrance hall can be closed off by a retractable bridge and an armour-plated door.
The barracks enclose a cobbled courtyard. Half of it was housed on the ground floor, with men and sub-officers on the first floor, making a total capacity of 388 men, in addition to a cistern and various magazines. The guardhouse at the entrance is attached to the western part of the barracks, where officers were housed. The vaults are built of rough stone. The floors between levels are in brick. The 1911 project allowed 4300 Euros for modernisation works. Three concrete shelters on the ramparts, two machine-gun turrets and observation points were to be established. In 1914, the fort held no more than 10 cannons on the ramparts and 10 in the caponiers.
During the First World War its batteries, armed with ten 12 to 15 cm weapons, fired across the Avron plateau. The quarries were used to shelter troops, provisions and an ambulance. From 1939 to 1940 the fort was occupied by anti-aircraft defence units. There was a fire in the barracks in July 1944. The fort was declassified in 1965 and handed over to the land administration department in 1974. It was registered by ministerial decree on the 16th May 1979 on the Secondary List of Historical Monuments. Since 1984, it has been undergoing restoration.
Fort at Champigny-sur-Marne 140 bis, rue Aristide-Briand 94430 Chennevières-sur-Marne Tel.: 01.45.94.74.74 e-mail: communication@ville-chennevières.fr Bus stop: "Fort de Champigny" Guided tours Saturdays and Sundays 3 pm to 5 pm Free entry

The Fort of the Bull (Fort du Taureau) is a splendid citadel on an island in the Bay of Morlaix, in French Finistère. Its unusual tale spans back over four centuries. Building work began circa 1542 to protect Morlaix and its people from pillaging assailants. Back in 1522, the English had sailed up the Dossen river to the estuary by Morlaix to loot the town. They were finally expelled by the town's people, who decided to fund and build this fort on the estuary's mouth to forestall future attacks, twenty years later. Until Louix XIII's reign, fort governors were ennobled ex-officio (and Morlaix's townsmen understandably vied fiercely for the job). The wall shielding that original fort was 6.50 metres high (the one you see today is twice as high).

In 1661, however, Louis XIV decreed that the fort was to become crown property, turned it into a State prison, and set up a garrison there. However, in those belligerent days, Brittany was in a valuable strategic position (it was near England). Accordingly, Vauban, a military engineer, decided to strengthen the fort in 1680. It was completely rebuilt (except for the Tour Française) into a larger and sturdier stronghold. The building was mostly made of granite from Callot, a neighbouring island. It is practically the same shape and size as the island: it is oblong, 60 long, and 12 metres wide. The walls are 12 metres high and the buildings span 1,450 sq m. There are 11 pillboxes, each of which can house a cannon. The fort also counts soldier and officer quarters, two dungeons, a mess, a kitchen, a chapel and latrines.
However, before rebuilding work was completed - and owing to Morlaix's gradual decline in prominence - this fortress was turned into a prison in 1721. Louis Auguste Blanqui, a well-known communard, was its last inmate until his release in 1871. The fort was disarmed in 1890 and became an historical monument in 1914. The Vilmorin family spent their summer holidays there in the 1930s and it housed a sailing school from the 1960s until 1980.
The fort's state of disrepair prompted local and central-government authorities to start restoration work in 1998. The chateau was transferred to the public realm in 2004.
1542: The first fort was funded and built by the people of Morlaix. 1689: Vauban, France's foremost military engineer in his day, visited the fort for the first time. 1745: Reconstruction work ended. 1871: Communard Louis-Auguste Blanqui, the fort's last prisoner, was released. 1890: The fort was disarmed. 1914: The chateau was listed as an Historical Monument. 1930: Mélanie de Vilmorin rented the chateau for family holidays through 1937. 1982: The sailing school founded in 1960 closed down.
Tourist Offices (enquiries) Carantec: +33 (0) 298.670.043 Booking tickets +33 (0) 298.622.973 Morlaix: +33 (0) 298.621.494 e-mail: Tourisme@morlaix.cci.fr Plougasnou Saint-Jean-du-Doigt Plouezoc'h: +33 (0) 298.673.188

Built in 1918 to house French colonial troops, principally Senegalese, at the end of the First World War Camp Vernet became a holding place for German and Austrian prisoners of war.

Between the two world wars, it served as a military depot before it was put to new use, in February 1939. Following the defeat of the Spanish Republican Army, it held thousands of Spanish civilians and soldiers seeking refuge in France where public opinion and political class was split between the political right’s fear of communism and solidarity among the left-wing parties for the Republican cause.

Its purpose changed under the Vichy regime when it was made a repressive camp for suspect foreigners. In total, some 40,000 men, women and children were interned at Camp Vernet including volunteers of international brigades fighting in the Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republicans, Jews, Italians, Russians, anti-Nazi Germans, Romanians, Yugoslavians and 10 other nationalities.

Between 1942 and 1944, six convoys were deported from this camp to Auschwitz, Avrigny and Dachau.

Camp Vernet Museum

Vernet town hall - 09700 Le Vernet 

Tel: +33 (0)5 61 68 36 43

Opening times

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8.30 am to 12 pm and 2-5 pm, and Wednesday mornings

Saverdun Tourist Information Office

Aire de Périès 09700 Saverdun

Tel: +33 (0)5 61 60 09 10 - Fax: +33 (0)5 61 60 99 91

Email: Communaute.commune@cc-pays-saverdun.fr

Association of Political and Resistance Veterans interned at Camp Vernet

AAI du Camp du Vernet d'Ariège - 09700 Le Vernet d'Ariège

Email: amicale@campduvernet.eu

Le Vernet Internment Camp

Source: Cohen, Monique-Lise and Malo, Eric, dir., Les camps du sud-ouest de la France 1939-1944. Exclusion, internement, déportation, Toulouse, Privat, 1994 - PESCHANSKI, Denis, La France des Camps: l'internement 1936-1946, Paris

Château de La Hille in Montégut-Plantaurel, near Pailhès, preserves the memory of one of the darkest episodes in the history of Ariège; a hundred Jewish children, aged between 5 and 16, were the victims of the Vichy administration. Having become orphans following the Crystal Night and the wave of anti-Semitic operations that spread across Nazi Germany, a number of Jewish German children fled to England, Belgium and France where they were taken in by charitable organisations.

Chased out of Belgium by the Wehrmacht offensive in May 1940, a hundred of them, after a six-day journey in animal lorries, reached Villefranche de Lauragais and then Seyre. On their arrival, they were taken in by the mayor, the château owner and the French Red Cross. The lack of food and the harsh winter of 1940-1941 forced the group to go to Château de La Hille in Montégut-Plantaurel, half way between Toulouse and the principality of Andorra.

In the summer of 1941, due to the intervention of the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), 20 of the youngest were taken to the United States and two others were saved by relatives in America.

In August 1942, the forty-five oldest were arrested by French police and interned in the Le Vernet camp. The Swiss government intervened and secured their release from Vichy. The children then tried to flee to Switzerland with the help of the headmistress and Anne-Marie Piguet (the head of an escape network to Switzerland).

Those who were held back by border guards and returned to La Hille tried to reach Spain over the Pyrenees. Those less fortunate were sold by people-smugglers to the Germans and Franco before being deported. Others ended up joining the French maquis (resistance fighters). A commemorative stele was erected on 17 September 2000 and a museum relating the history has been set up in the château.

As a reminder of the role of a safe haven, a monument to the Rights of Man was erected on common land in 1993.

A commemorative plaque in the château

The wording on the commemorative plaque mounted near Château de La Hille tells of the journey taken by the German Jewish children persecuted by the Nazi regime who became victims of the Vichy administration, many of whom survived thanks to the support of the Red Cross and local residents. Jacques Roth, a former resident and now a writer, was the author:

"In the darkest hours of the 20th century, the five hundred year old Château de la Hille provided a haven of peace for a hundred Jewish refugee children from Germany, fleeing from the terror and racial hatred which was spreading in waves across Holland, Belgium and a large part of France. Having arrived at the château in 1941, they lived there surrounded by the benevolence of the local residents and in the good care of a group of young Swiss Red Cross workers, Aid to Children: Maurice and Eléonore Dubois, Rösli Näf, Eugen Lyrer and Emma Ott. Their only too brief respite ended with the raids of August 1942, when the forty or so over sixteen years old were arrested by the police and taken to the le Vernet Camp in Ariège, the first stage of their journey to the death camps to which they were destined. Alerted to the fact, Mister Dubois, the director of the organisation, came immediately to Vichy where he managed to break down the door of the highest State police officer and succeeded in rescuing "his children", as well as the adults accompanying them, from deportation. The "Hillois" were able to return to their château. However, the feeling of security never returned. In November 1942, with the arrival of German troops across the whole country and sensing the threat once again, the older ones started to disperse. Twenty-five of them tried to reach Switzerland. Twenty succeeded but five were arrested. Ten sought their salvation by taking the shortest route over the Pyrenees but five did not make it. Others were taken in by local farmers. Some of the young girls found sanctuary in a convent. Some joined the maquis and one of them was killed by enemy bullets. Of the ten "Hillois" deported to Auschwitz, just one survived. Throughout its history, the château has never been the setting for an armed battle, but in this last episode it was witness to the victory of humanity over barbarity. The elders of la Hille say thank you to it, as well as to the residents of Montégut Plantaurel and its surrounding area."

Mairie of Montégut-Plantaurel

09120 Montégut-Plantaurel

Tel.: + 33 (0) 5 61 05 35 83

e-mail: mairie.montegut-plantaurel@wanadoo.fr

Varilhes Tourist Information Office

3 avenue Louis-Siret

09120 VARILHES

Tel.: + 33 (0) 5.61.60.55.54

Fax: + 33 (0) 5.61.60.55.54

e-mail: office-tourisme.varilhes@wanadoo.fr