The decision to build Fort Médoc was made by Louis XIV in 1689. The construction work that had started in 1690 was far enough advanced in 1691 to allow a first garrison to move in, even before the fort was finished. Fort Médoc has the classic appearance of a Vauban-style fortification, with its grassed ramparts, moats and large open spaces leading up to the fort. Basically rectangular in shape, it is flanked on its four corners by bastions linked by curtain walls. The moats communicate with the Gironde by a system of locks that allow the water level to be maintained regardless of the tide.

After crossing the royal demi-lune in front of the buildings and the moats, visitors reach the heart of the fort by the Porte Royale, whose pediment is decorated with a sun, the emblem of Louis XIV. The vaulted corridor beneath the central building was sealed by a wooden lattice-work gate and by a portcullis, which has since disappeared. Lateral casemates with arrow loops provide security for the passage. The central building, the royal guard house, originally accommodated the garrison's commanding officer on the first floor and consisted of weapons storage rooms on the ground floor and fine vaulted rooms in the basement.
The enormous interior esplanade was bordered by two barracks on a single level, capable of accommodating up to three hundred men. These buildings never held more than around a hundred people and the only things that remain today are the floors, a few sections of wall and a fireplace. The guard house overlooking the bastions, the fresh water tank, the chapel and the powder store are, however, still there to be admired. From 1700 onwards, the defensive purpose of this fort, which was deemed to be barely operational, was questioned by military engineers and later by the bursar, Tourny: the earth supporting the bastions and curtain walls proved to be too weak to prop up the fort's defences, the marshland around the site led to several epidemics amongst the company, who had to be relieved too frequently and, most importantly, it was easier for ships to take the Blaye channel than the shallower Médoc channel.
Playing only a negligible role in the defence of the Gironde estuary, Fort Médoc was never to be tested under fire. A garrison was stationed there until 1916 and in 1930 it became the property of the Cussac-Fort-Médoc local authority. Today the town council manages the site in conjunction with the association of the friends of Fort Médoc. The fort is currently the subject of an ambitious renovation programme and has for many years hosted various cultural events in the summer season.
Tours The fort is open for tours every day in the summer season. More information from the mairie of Cussac-Fort-Médoc Access 40 km from Bordeaux via Blanquefort and Margaux, on the D 2. Mairie of Cussac-Fort-Médoc 34 Avenue du Haut-Médoc 33640 Cussac-Fort-Médoc tel. + 33 (0) 5 57 88 85 00 fax. + 33 (0) 5 57 88 85 15

After the signing of the Treaty of Nijmegen, to command the respect of the Spanish garrison in Luxembourg and to close the opening in the Ardennes between the Meuse and the Moselle, Louis XIV decided to create a fortified town at Longwy. He had the old château and medieval Longwy-Haut destroyed in order to build the "new town" slightly further north, on the edge of the plateau which overlooked the Chiers valley and the lower town. Construction began in 1679. Longwy holds a very special place among the 160 towns on which Vauban worked: it was one of nine towns he constructed "ex nihilo" (from nothing) and which therefore best portray his vision of an ideal town.

The fortress was constructed to a star plan with six bastions. All the equipment needed for a wartime base was provided: a sizeable church, a large arsenal, eleven barracks and five wells. The wall was surrounded by ramparts, with two entrances: Porte de Bourgogne (destroyed in 1914) and Porte de France, which were built symmetrically north and south of the parade ground (today known as Darche Square, from the name of the colonel who defended the Longwy site in 1914) set in the centre of the hexagon.

Longwy was besieged four times, with the siege of 1914 causing the most damage. The north-western part was completely destroyed. The buildings around place Darche also suffered: the third floor of the tower of Saint Dagobert Church fell in 1871, and the governor's palace was destroyed in the same siege, whilst the interior of the town hall was bombed in 1914. Despite this, certain buildings survived and are now Historic Monuments: the Siege Well, the Porte de France (finely decorated for the king's visit) whilst others have been given new uses: the Ordener barracks, the military services building, etc.

Guided tours of these surviving buildings are now available to visitors. A large number of structures recount the history of Longwy.

Longwy fortified town

Tourist Office:

Place Darche 54400 Longwy-Haut

Tel: +33 (0)3 82 24 27 17 - +33 (0)3 82 24 94 54

Fax: +33 (0)3 82 24 77 75

e-mail: ot-longwy@wanadoo.fr

To the south east of la Croisette, the archipelago of the Lérins islands separates the Gulf of Napoule to the west from the Gulf of Jouan to the east. It comprises four islands: two large ones (Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat) and two small ones (the islet of la Tradelière and the islet of Saint-Féréol). The island of Sainte-Marguerite is the closest to Cannes, just 700 metres from the Palm-Beach headland, and the most extensive, covering more than 160 hectares. The island takes its name from a chapel built there in honour of the martyr of Antioche during the first centuries of Christianity. After the occupation of the island by the Romans, whose traces still remain today, for many centuries Sainte-Marguerite belonged to the monks of Lérins. In 1617, the Duke de Guise gave Jean de Bellon the task of building a fort intended to block access to Cannes. Constructed between 1624 and 1627 on the site of remains dating back to Roman antiquity, at the time it was nothing more than a simple fortified house.

This small fortification was enlarged and strengthened by the Spanish who occupied the islands of Lérins from 1635. Two bastions and the first barrack buildings were added to the existing construction. With a garrison of approximately 800 men on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, the Spanish troops were faced with the vital question of supplying drinking water and invented a system for collecting rainwater, which fed into a large well built upon enormous tanks. Today you can still see the four decantation basins where the water was purified before filling one of the two tanks set under the well. In 1637, the French took back the Islands of Lérins, and named the citadel the Royal fort. The fortification was then considerably strengthened: the moats were made deeper, the curtain wall was raised and two demi-lunes were then linked to the fort by elevated walkways, which have since disappeared. The royal governor, Guitaut, also had a "tenaille" built, a low bastion placed in front of the entrance gates to the fort, which bears his name today.
At the end of the 17th Century, Louis XIV's general commissioner of fortifications personally inspected the fort, and gave instructions to strengthen the square. Work carried out as a result of Vauban's visit give the fort most of the appearance that we still recognise today. 26 metres above sea level, the structure projects over a rocky cliff on the northern coast of the Island of Sainte-Marguerite, opposite cape Croisette. It is a small fort that is pentagonal in shape, flanked by four bastions at its weak points, on the land side. On the coastal side, the structure's stone ramparts are supported by an earth embankment and blend remarkably into the sheer cliff. Inside the compound, a chapel, and several barns used to house the troops and the artillery stores still survive today. Amongst the latter, we can see the impressive building that constituted the powder store, surrounded by the walls of the royal bastion to the south of the fort, probably intended to reduce the consequences of any accidental explosion. After this, the structure was the subject of minor alterations. And so, in 1862, a semaphore was constructed by raising one of the fort's old towers. Later, during the occupation by German troops during the Second World War, a surveillance station was established on one of the fort's triangular promontories Today, several buildings are in ruins and the invading vegetation is gradually taking over the demi-lunes and the ramparts. However, teams of young workers from Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur have been helping to renovate the fort for more than thirty years. The ramparts have been made safe and building repairs and much restoration work have been carried out so as to make visits possible to this fortification, which is unique along the Cannes coastline.
From 1637 onwards the first cells were fitted out in the governor's château. But it was in 1685, at a time when the Royal fort accommodated a large garrison, that the fort was dedicated definitively and first and foremost to be used as a state prison. So, in 1687, Governor Saint-Mars, on the orders of Louis XIV, had a parallelepiped stone building constructed inside the compound, inside which several cells were soon fitted out. The prisoners held inside the fort include most notably: [list]the famous, but nevertheless unidentified, Iron Mask, held for 11 years from 1687 to 1698; [list]Six protestant pastors, imprisoned following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, from 1689 until their death in 1713; [list]Jean-Baptiste Suard, who would become the eternal secretary of the French Academy, incarcerated between 1751 and 1753; [list]The Smala d'Abd el-Kader, from 1843; [list]600 Austrian prisoners, detained in 1859 after the battle of Montebello; [list]Marshall Bazaine, the only prisoner to have escaped from the Royal fort in 1873, in what legend describes as a fantastic escape and after whom a terrace of the fort is today named. The Royal fort also has a smaller detention area, reserved for soldiers. The Museum of the Sea, located inside the fort, allows visitors to look at some of the cells, including that of the Iron Mask, as well as those occupied by the protestant pastors, to whom there is now a memorial.
On the Island of Sainte-Marguerite Although the Museum of the Sea allows visits to the inside of the Royal fort compound and its dark cells, it also has a second museographic area, which houses an important collection of submarine and land archaeology. In the heart of the old roman reservoirs and recently restored chambers, the museum exhibits the wrecks of boats that ran aground off the shores of the Islands of Lérins. Visitors can also see a model reconstruction of the roman water reservoir system, a collection of painted designs dating back to antiquity and a room housing aquariums presented by the permanent centre of initiatives for the environment, which display the underwater flora and fauna of the Mediterranean. Inside the fort, an entertainment and accommodation centre has been established which is able offer different types of holidays to a varied clientele: introductory classes and training courses for sport or cultural activities for schools, playing host to business associations or committees, organising seminars etc. Lastly, the island of Sainte-Marguerite is able to welcome around half a million visitors per year because it can also offer an extraordinary natural heritage. The island is criss-crossed by forest paths and a coastal path that allows a circuit of the island close to the clear seabed. A well-marked botanical trail allows visitors to spot the many kinds of maritime plants and trees. To the west of the island, the Batéguiers lake offers shelter to the many migrating birds that can be observed throughout the year. Its 150 hectares of pine and eucalyptus forests make the island of Sainte-Marguerite a unique setting for quiet walks along the coastline of the Alpes-Maritimes. The national forestry office is responsible for the protection of the island's remarkable forest plantations, welcoming the public by offering activities as an introduction to this rich natural environment. On the island of Saint-Honorat The island of Saint-Honorat has several chapels, constructed very early on to welcome pilgrims. Although today one of them is in ruins, the six others were restored in the 17th century and more recently with the aid of the original plans. At one end of the island there is a cannonball oven, employed by the artillery of the First Empire to heat the projectiles used to set fire to the wooden boats that threatened the coasts. The island is also home to the abbey of Lérins, which houses a community of about thirty monks of various nationalities, who cultivate lavender and work the vines. A jewel of the feudal architecture of the Provence area, the fortified monastery was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries and is open to the public. The abbey produces a liqueur made from around thirty aromatic plants, whose recipe remains secret and which must be consumed in moderation.
Cannes Tourist Information Office Esplanade Georges Pompidou BP 272 06403 Cannes Cedex Tel. + 33 (0) 4.92.99.84.22 Fax + 33 (0) 4.92.99.84.23 e-mail: tourisme@semec.com The Museum of the Sea Open every day, except Monday and some Bank Holidays. Closed annually in November. The museum is free on the first Sunday of every month and on a permanent basis for the under 18's and students under 26 years of age. Free guided tours can be arranged by appointment. Museum of the Sea Parking Pantiero Fort de l'île Sainte-Marguerite Tel. + 33 (0) 4.93.38.55.26 Access by sea from Cannes. Several maritime transport companies operate along the islands' quays, at the end of the Laubeuf car park. Services to the Islands of Lérins operate all year round (allow around twenty minutes to cross to the Island of Sainte-Marguerite).

At the end of the 17th Century, France was in conflict with the League of Augsburg. Along with his Dutch allies, the Prince of Orange, who had become William III, King of England, imposed a maritime blockade on the kingdom of Louis XIV. Corsaires departing from the port of Saint-Malo broke through the Anglo-Dutch barricade in a spectacular storming action. Faced with the enemy threat, the Sun King decided to equip the islands off the Saint Malo coast and in 1689 gave Vauban the task of establishing a wall of artillery around this strategic position at the entrance to the Channel.

The Conchées islands extend two nautical miles to the north west of Saint-Malo. Beaten by winds and currents, the Fort de la Conchée is anchored to the Rocher de Quincé. Part of the protection system for St Malo, and the structure furthest from the port, this small fort was designed to enable enemy ships attempting to bombard St Malo to be taken from behind, by securing an access route to the harbour out of reach of Cézembre's canons: " the Passe aux Normands".
Construction of the building began in 1692 from plans that Vauban had entrusted to Siméon de Garangeau, who was appointed director of fortifications in Saint-Malo. On the 27th November 1693, the English seized the fort as it was being built, but failed in their attempt to destroy the city of St Malo using the famous infernal machine, a vessel loaded with explosives which ran aground on the reefs before reaching the city's ramparts. Considered to be finished in 1695, the Fort de la Conchée resisted another attack that same year from the English fleet, commanded by Admiral Berkeley. With a surface area of 1,600 m², the fortification has the appearance of a stone vessel with rounded edges, concealing curved internal vaults. The stonework of the thick ramparts has been reinforced not only to strengthen the fortification against enemy fire, but also in order to protect the small rock supporting the building from the onslaught of waves. On the lower level, a monumental entranceway, with the King's arms carved into the rock, provides direct access to one of the fort's lower chambers. On the upper level, artillery terraces housed gunwale canons (above the parapet, due to the elevated position of the structure's ground floor), which allowed the gunners to reach the hulls of the enemy ships. At the end of the 18th century an oven was built inside the structure to heat the Meusnier cannonballs. Protected from enemy projectiles by a stone base and equipped with a semi-circular vault enabling the cannonballs to be heated by reverberation, this oven allowed the constant heating of several dozen cannonballs in just one hour. It also acted as a deterrent at a time before the invention of vessels with armoured hulls. In fact, just the smoke from such an oven was often enough to make any attacker head off back to sea.
During the Second World War, the Fort de la Conchée was taken over by the occupying troops and used as a training target by the heavy German batteries. It suffered a lot of damage, most notably in 1943, when fire from one of these batteries seriously damaged the southern gable of the structure and destroyed the officers' living quarters on the terrace. In 1944, Saint-Malo was occupied by the German garrison of Colonel von Aulok and, from the 6th August onwards, was heavily bombarded by the allied army Most of the city was destroyed, the ramparts seriously damaged and all the fortification's living accommodation reduced to nothing. When allied troops took back possession of the Fort de la Conchée, the former war machine was in ruins and no longer had any defensive purpose.
Saint-Malo Tourist Information Office Esplanade St-Vincent 35400 Saint-Malo tel. + 33 (0) 8 25 16 02 00 fax. + 33 (0) 2.99.56.67.00 e-mail: info@saint-malo-tourisme.com

In the far south of the Pyrénées Orientales region, the Côte Vermeille (‘Vermilion Coast’) hugs the Mediterranean sea and is sheltered by the Albera Massif to the west. Nestled in the bottom of a cove along this rocky coastline, the village of Collioure is rich in historic monuments that mix together religious art and military architecture.

In addition to its royal palace built between the 13th and 18th centuries, and its 17th century church known for its phallic bell tower, Collioure is overlooked by Fort Saint-Elme, south of the port. Fort Saint Elme, like the fort in Salses, was erected between 1538 and 1552 by King Charles V to protect the Spanish Kingdom (Castile and Aragon) and help fight the French in Italy and lead the war up to the north of France and Burgundy. Importantly Charles V was the great grandson of Charles the Bold (Duke of Burgundy), a Burgundian prince who was desperate to take back Dijon (Duchy of Burgundy) occupied by Louis XI in 1477. To fight in the north, it was important to be protected in the south.

Saint Elme (St. Elmo in English) is the patron saint of sailors and the fort does actually resemble a ship protecting Collioure and Port-Vendres.

Its star shape also prefigured the architectural style of Vauban. In the mid-16th century, Charles V built a fortified redoubt around the medieval keep, not that this offered any resistance to Vicomte de Turenne. Often called simply Turenne, he captured the fort in 1642 after a siege that lasted several weeks and allowed the defenders to leave with “all arms and flags flying”, in other words with the honours of war. After Collioure was annexed to France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, Vauban came to inspect the region’s defence system and decided to reinforce the fortifications by building barrack buildings protected by moats.

Fort Saint-Elme was further modernised in the late 18^th century with the addition of a water tank and a network of underground tunnels to protect the inhabitants from artillery fire. Invaded by the Spanish in December 1793, the fort was soon after besieged by French troops led by General Dugommier.

Situated on a crest overlooking the fort, a battery, converted into a redoubt in 1844, is a still-standing testament to this siege that ended in May 1794 following the victory of the French, who reclaimed Collioure and its fortifications.

Fort Saint-Elme was a private property from 1913 and requisitioned in 1942 by the occupying troops before it was pillaged in 1944 when they decamped. Entered in the inventory of historic monuments in 1927, the fort is now open to the public.

Collioure Tourist Information Office

Place du 18 juin 66190 Collioure

Tel: +33 (0)4 68 82 15 47

Fax: +33 (0)4 68 82 46 29

Email: contact@collioure.com

Getting there: 30 km (19 miles) from Perpignan via the N114.

Collioure Tourist Information Office

Fort Saint Elme

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna sentenced France to return Savoy to the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, allied with Austria. Victor-Emmanuel I used a proportion of the ample compensation paid by France to fortify the Alpine barrier and block the French army's passage into Italy.

Since the glacial rock bar allowing access into Piedmont was no longer protected since Napoleon had destroyed the fortress of Brunetta de Susa in 1796, the decision was made to reinforce the protection of the routes between France and Italy around Esseillon.

Dominating the Arc Valley along two kilometres over Modane, the rocky foothills of Esseillon, a natural defensive barrier a hundred metres high, blocks the access to the Haute-Maurienne Valley and Mont-Cenis Pass, between Savoy and Turin. In 1817, excavation was started to strip the rock intended to hold the future constructions. At the heart of the grandiose mountains of Haute-Maurienne, the huge construction of a military town was entrusted to a young captain from Piedmont, Olivero.

Educated on Austrian defence systems, he put into practice the theories of Marquis de Montalembert, a French artillery general in the 18^th century: the forts were designed to block the enemy’s path following a line of defence perpendicular to the direction of their progression. Five structures were erected, the way the valley flared placing everything out of the reach of enemy artillery stationed on the surrounding summits. Named after the first names of members of the royal family of the House of Savoy, these thick-walled forts flanked by breaks making crossfire possible. They form a majestic architectural ensemble that effectively fulfilled its role of blocking the path through Mont-Cenis Pass, the gateway into Italy, until 1860.

In this year, marked by Savoy's reannexation to France, the crenellations cut into the fort walls, mainly directed towards France, now served no purpose. The defence structures in Esseillon were modified by the French, in such a way as to counter invaders coming from the East.

In 1871, drilling started on the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, transferring the border defence fortifications to the valley around Modane. Stripped of any strategic interest and weakened by shells, these remote and cold imposing structures perched at over one thousand five hundred metres altitude were downgraded to a site for holding disciplinary battalions or prisoners. The fortifications were saved from fire until the Second World War.

Built between 1818 and 1828, Fort Victor-Emmanuel was the major component of the Esseillon defence system. Sat at the edge of a cliff at 1,350 metres altitude, the fort comprises a parallel series of eight, two-storey buildings, two of which were specifically batteries for cannons. The main entrance, reached by a wooden bridge extended by a metal drawbridge, led through to the headquarters building that housed the staff, the barracks, and logistics buildings, including two wells that supplied the garrison with water.

The fort’s fire plans were directed towards the village of Avrieux and the royal road connecting Chambéry to Turin, although a number of embrasures also flanked the area surrounding the Marie-Thérèse redoubt. A path suitable for motor vehicles bordered by projecting stones snaked inside the fort and facilitated the movement of batteries. Inside the building, a maze of staircases and vaulted galleries provided easy access for moving cannons about. On the Sardinian side, a ditch was bordered with caponiers, structures detached from the escarp.

A prison was built in 1833 for the purpose of holding Italian liberals. Initially conceived as a base station in the event of an attack, the fort was designed to hold a garrison of 1,500 men serving 35 cannons. A thriving hub, it also contained a hospital and a chapel. In June 1940, it was at the centre of the defence system of the 281st artillery regiment, before being used by the Italians, who started to imprison French resistance fighters there in 1943. During the course of winter 1944, Fort Victor-Emmanuel was used as a support base for the 6th battalion of Alpine hunter operating against the German troops entrenched at Mont-Cenis. Today, some entrance points into the fort are dangerous and are currently being reinforced as part of the general restoration programme of the complex.

Erected between 1819 and 1830, Fort Marie-Christine is the highest fort of the complex overlooking the structure in its entirety from an altitude of 1,500 metres. A typical perpendicular fortification structure popular with Marquis de Montalembert, rid of its traditional bastions, the hexagonal complex still maintains a perpendicular face to the enemy. Dedicated to defending the north side of the valley, the fort and its 20 cannons provided an effective flank of the Charles-Albert and Charles-Félix forts as well as the road leading to Aussois.
Encircled by a wall and preceded by a ditch in the east, and a vertiginous cliff to the west, the fort was built over three levels: a ground floor occupied by rooms used for logistics; a first floor where the army barracks were situated, and an upper level consisting of a covered terrace with cannon embrasures. The main entrance was protected by a weighbridge positioned under the crenellations at the guard posts. The central courtyard is surrounded by blockhouses surmounted with vaults that could hold up to 500 men. Originally, a secure passage was provided to Fort Charles-Albert by a long low building that is no longer standing today.

Entirely renovated, today Fort Marie-Christine offers visitors a number of features in addition to its historical interest and importance as a national monument. Housing a gîte and a restaurant, it is a fascinating place to stay and enjoy a meal. Also an activity centre, in 1987 it was made the fifth entrance to Vanoise National Park and offers climbing enthusiasts a range of well-established ascents for both novices and the more experienced.

Protected in the north by the Arc Abyss, to the west of the Saint-Anne Nant ravine, Marie-Thérèse redoubt is the only structure in the Esseillon defence system built on the left bank of the Arc Valley. Constructed from 1819 to 1825, this redoubt in the town of Avrieux was intended to block the Route Royale through Mont-Cenis Pass.

Within reach of the cannons at Fort Victor-Emmanuel, from the other side of the abyss, the structure resembles an irregularly-shaped horse shoe, the western end extended to house the entranceway and the weighbridge facing France. Designed to hold a garrison of two hundred men, the Marie-Thérèse redoubt was organised over two levels of vaulted blockhouses placed around a modest central courtyard. On the upper level, visitors can see triple embrasures, which can accept one cannon and two rifles. A shooting gallery buried in the counterscarp of the ditch thus guaranteed an efficient close defence system. Goods were initially supplied using a system of cables erected across the Arc Ravine and connecting the structure to Fort Victor-Emmanuel. Then in 1850, a narrow suspension bridge over the abyss broke the redoubt’s isolated position by connecting it to the structures located on the opposite side of the Arc Gorges: a covered walkway stretched the length of the bridge, which was defended by a guardroom.

The same year, a swing bridge controlled by a small fort set 50 metres back from the redoubt was erected to protect the access to the fort.

In June 1940, the redoubt was occupied by the 281st infantry regiment, then, after the armistice, by the Italian and German troops until September 1944. Currently under renovation, a part of the structure is today open to visitors. Suspended 100 metres over the void, the bravest visitors can enjoy an unspoilt view over the Arc Gorges from the ‘devil’s bridge’. This gangway destroyed in 1940 was reconstructed in 1989 as part of the project to open the Esseillon site as a cultural and sports site and is today one of the starting points of the via ferrata climbing trail.
Completed in 1827, this building, just like Fort Marie-Christine (wife of Charles-Félix) formed a small unit designed to block the path of troops along the road connecting Aussois and Modane. Stood on the western cliff, it was accessed from the east via an earth ramp leading to an immense door made from hewn stones facing Fort Victor-Emmanuel.

To the rear of the building, a cemetery, known as the Sardinian Cemetery, was used to bury the dead from across the Esseillon site.

When Savoy was annexed to France in 1860, the agreements signed by Napoleon III and Cavour, the prime minister of the nascent state of Italy, stipulated that the fortified complex at Esseilon must be completely destroyed. However, Fort Charles-Félix was the only structure wrecked on the emperor’s order, after three days of shellfire. Visitors are strongly dissuaded from entering the structure today due to the high risks of collapsing walls. Between Fort Marie-Christine and Fort Victor-Emmanuel, the fort ruins make a breathtaking site from the main road, revealing the former dungeon surrounded by a star-shaped wall.

In 1832, the construction of a last fort was started. This was due to the fact that the defence system made up of the existing four structures contained a breach north of the village of Aussois. Linked by a trench to Fort Marie-Christine standing at the same altitude, Fort Charles-Albert was therefore intended to complete the entire complex by blocking access to the north of the site of Esseillon. The structure was never completed and the construction terminated in 1834. Today, only the ruins of two small garrison buildings and the base of one tower can be seen overlooking the valley in Aussois.

Esseillon Fort

Aussois Tourist Information Centre, Maison d’Aussois, 73500, Aussoi

Tel: +33 (0)4 79 20 30 80

Fax: 04.79.20.40.23

Email: info@aussois.com 

Tours

Visitors can take guided tours around the buildings open to the public. The new vocation of Esseillon’s defence system is also enhanced by numerous tourist trails with a variety of themes. Nature trails are a great way to explore the wealth of flora and fauna in the region, offering routes to be explored by foot or snowshoe via a network of footpaths, climbing trails for the more athletic or restoration projects at the structures in high season for a more laborious activity. There are a variety of ways to discover the forts in Esseillon and the area surrounding this unique fortified complex in France.

Getting there

From Chambéry (107 km), Grenoble (145 km), Lyon (220 km), Geneva (200 km), or Turin (110 km), via the alpine A43 or A41 motorways (exit at Modane). From Modane (7 km), international train station, by the D215.

Site of Maison d’Aussois

As well as the glamour and glitz and the façade of the local 'gendarmerie' that graced the French silver screen, Saint-Tropez boasts a long and eventful historical past, of which the most obvious example is the citadel that dominates the town.

A first 'enceinte' or protective wall with its bastioned structure was built around the town in the 15th century for the dual purpose of protecting the site from invasion and to ensure the King's authority over the inhabitants. In 1589, Maréchal de Villars supervised the construction of a small fort on the hill known as 'colline des Moulins' overlooking Saint-Tropez. This fort was destroyed in 1595, but the military engineer Raymond de Bonnefons chose the same site to build further defensive structures from the start of the 17th century.
1607 saw the completion of the citadel's present-day keep, a thick-walled hexagonal tower concealing a huge interior courtyard, accessible via a drawbridge, and strongly defended by an artillery platform and three round flanking turrets with cannon embrasures. A few years later, a bastioned outer wall was built around the keep and lined with a system of moats and counterscarps. Situated between Toulon and Antibes, Saint-Tropez became a strategic port of call in the protection of the French coastline, and all its defences faced out towards the Mediterranean. In 1637, the inhabitants of Saint-Tropez saw off a surprise attack on the port by around twenty Spanish ships and four royal navy vessels. No major changes were made to the citadel until the 19th century, when military engineers gave the structure its current silhouette. The outer walls were pierced and adapted to store gunpowder, and the entry to the internal courtyard was rendered accessible to vehicles, via a bascule drawbridge designed in 1830. During World War 1, the fortified town became a detention camp for German prisoners, who carried out various public works in the local area. From 1942, the citadel was occupied by Italian troops, then by the Germans. The citadel and the town was liberated by the Allied troops and the First French army after the landing on the Mediterranean beaches between Saint-Raphaël and Hyères in August 1944.
The citadel is located in a harmonious setting of wooded hills, accessed by following a footpath lined with eucalyptus and rosebays, where it is not unusual to find wild peacocks. Since 1958, the edifice has housed a naval museum comprising of a dozen rooms offering the visitor the opportunity to discover the naval heritage of Saint Tropez from antiquity to the modern day. The permanent exhibition presents archeological submarine equipment, models, engravings and paintings of boats, as well as a collection of documents recording the extraordinary lives of famous local people: two rooms are devoted entirely to Pierre André de Suffren, bailiff to the King, and Jean-François Allard, an officer under Napoleon who became generalissimo of the forces of an Indian Prince. Naturally, the history of the Allied landing is also covered, in particular courtesy of exceptional military staff maps from the period retracing the progress of the liberators. Access to the upper terrace of the museum offers visitors a superb panoramic view. Looking towards the sea the view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and Sainte-Maxime is extraordinary with a combination of jagged rocky coastline, headlands, bays, creeks and islands. Looking inland, when the hot mistral wind is blowing, the view spans both snowcapped mountains and the red rocky landscape of the Estérel hills. On the terrace, four Spanish cannons seized from the enemy continue to symbolically scan the horizon in anticipation of an attack that will no longer materialise.
Access to the Citadel of Saint-Tropez 70km from Toulon via Hyères by the A 57, then the N 98 to Bertaud, and the D 98a. 100km from Nice by the A 8 (exit no. 38 Fréjus, St-Raphaël), then the N 98 via Sainte-Maxime, and the D 98a. 120km from Aix-en-Provence via Brignoles by the A 8 (exit no. 13 Le-Cannet-des-Maures, Vidauban, La Garde-Freinet), then the D 558 to Bertaud, and the D 98a. Visiting the naval museum Open all year round except Tuesdays and some public holidays. Possibility of guided tours (also in English during the tourist season). Saint-Tropez Tourist Office Quai Jean Jaurès 83990 Saint-Tropez Tel. 33/ (0) 494 974 521 Fax 33/ (0) 494 978 266 Minitel 36 15 VAR e-mail: tourism@ot-saint-tropez.com

After the defeat by Germany in the war of 1870, France will loose Alsace and a part of Lorraine. Furthermore it is condemned to pay a war indemnity of five billion gold-francs and hasn't got the right to defend on the Eastern borders anymore. The technological progress achieved by the artillery since 1858 (loading with cylinder heads and the use of striped canons) considerably increased its range and precision: the existing fortifications, including those of Paris, are now completely obsolete.

The government of Adolphe Thiers react vigorously to this situation and charges General Raymond Séré de Rivière to draw up a report on the defence of France. The new Parisian defence plan includes the construction of a defence enclosure of 43 works, which measure six to seven kilometres of distance from the original enclosure of 1841.

The envisaged budget equals to 400 million gold pieces and will exceeded of 33 million!

Since in 1870 the Prussians used the Parisis Hillock as observatory and artillery position, the fort of Cormeilles is considered as a priority. Its mission is, on one hand, to block the peninsula of Argenteuil, market gardening zone, essential for a new eventual siege of Paris. On the other hand the fort of Cormeilles is used to protect the road, as well as the railway access to the Montmorency valley towards Pontoise and Rouen in crossing the shootings with the fort Monlignon.

It was built between 1874 and 1878, for a total cost of 3,3 million gold. This price includes the purchase of the grounds and the construction work of a public company, controlled by the civil engineering.

The fort has the shape of an irregular trapezoid, whose 1,2 kilometres long ditch consists of three clay kaponiers. This fort of first generation (central massive building and high levelled battery), possesses two fronts turned towards the attacker and two flanks turned towards Paris, in order to save in terms of earthworks and to ease an eventual re-conquering of the fort. Originally a grid, followed of a clay pit by two fusillade crenels, protected the entrance of the fort. Nowadays this pit is filled. A gantry makes the crossing of the obstacle possible, by being retracted on the left with the use of a winch.

A central massive building, protecting the officer's building, includes 7 cellars for canons and sheltering mortars intended to beat the slopes of the Hillock. Here the artillery peak wasn't possible to see. The garrison of the ford included 36 officers, more than a thousand men and 24 artillery horses. This fort being one of the first built among the defence enclosure of the Séré de Rivère program, serves as testimony and its plans are diffused among the engineers as an example.

From 1855 it is however out of date because of the shell-torpedo crises. The engineers modify many of the Séré de Rivière forts. The fort of Cormeilles will not profit from any modernization program.

During the first world conflict it is used as deposit and also as anti-aircraft battery against the zeppelins that came to bombard Paris.

During the short campaign of 1940, the artillery pieces of the fort open fire and shoot down several enemy planes. The Germans occupy the building and use it as ammunition deposit for the Kriegesmarine. From now on they shelter anti-aircraft batteries of 20 mm Flack instead of the old 75 mm guns.

Released by the FFI of the region the fort is then used as a prison to lock up the war prisoners, the collaborationists and the traffickers of the black market. The last officer leaves this place in 1955 and the prison will be closed in 1956. In 1967 the fort is assigned to the 23rd infantry regiment of the Navy and accommodates an initiation centre of the commando which will function permanently, in particular also for many reserve units, until the dissolution of this regiment, at the beginning of the 80's. Given up from the Ministry of defence to the Ile-de-France region, the fort is today managed by the association "Friends of the Cormeilles fort" (l'association des amis du fort de Cormeilles), which is at present looking for objects and documents relating to the work, in order to enrich the collection and build a military museum at the heart of the fort.

Le fort de Cormeilles

Contact  : Les amis du fort de Cormeilles

1, Route stratégique 95240 Cormeilles-en-Parisis

Tél. 06.80.92.48.57

E-mail : jean-pierre.mazier@wanadoo.fr

Visits The association Friends of the Cormeilles fort organizes each first Sunday

at 3 p.m. of the month guided tours of the fort. Access to Cormeilles-en-parisis

By car : 40 km from Paris. Take the A 115 in direction to Cergy-Ponyoise via Franconville

(exit n°2 Ermont-Cernay, Franconville, Sannois).

By train (RER) : SNCF railway station of Cormeilles

is connected during the rush hours by a shuttle service to the RER (A) station of
Sartrouville and to the RER (C) station of Montigny-Beauchamps during the whole day.

By train : 15 min from the Saint-Lazare station, direction Pontoise or Mantes-la-Jolie. 

Fort de Cormeilles

At the centre of the one thousand five hundred hectares of the largest artificial roadstead in France, the defensive system of the Port of Cherbourg is arranged around several fortified edifices, warships forever petrified present exceptional historical point of interest. The inspection of the Cherbourg bay defences by Louis XIV in 1786 marked the beginning of the reinforcement of the coastal defences. During the course of the XIXth century, the forts constructed were adapted to changing artillery methods, which were becoming ever more powerful. During the second world war, a part of the fort was operational and served to cordon off a strategic point of passage and for bringing allied provisions into Great Britain . When Cherbourg fell to the enemy on the 30th June 1944, the port installations sustained considerable damage, as evidenced by numerous bullet and shell holes indelibly marking the granite stones.

In 1787, the foundations of the Querqueville fort were laid on the site of the a modest semi-circular fort dating from the Seven years war. The construction of the fort was interrupted before its completion, when the passage for vessels was moved one kilometre to the west.
The Querqueville fort, from which troops had to shoot from long distances and was therefore inaccurate, saw its vocation considerably reduced. The work undertaken was nevertheless completed in 1795, resulting in a construction in the shape of a semicircular casemate, opening up into a central courtyard, and protected by a two-tiered barracks. On the land side, the semi-circular gun battery with fifty three casemates was protected by a bastion separate from the rest of the edifice. In the mid XIXth century, an artillery firing range was added to the area surrounding the fort. This served as a firing range for the Marine gunners, before being used as the site for a barracks for accommodating colonial troops in 1895. Large-bore coastal batteries were added to both ends of the fort around 1879. An aeronaval base was constructed in 1925 near the fort, used during the 1940 campaign by allied aircraft who attempted in vain to drive back the advancing enemy troops in the Cotentin. The fort was later used as a training ground for the School of National Marine Safety. The terrace of the fort, the cavities on the first floor, the bastioned façade with its protrusions, its recesses and its moats, all suffered damage during the bombardments of the second world war. However, the Querqueville fort is without doubt the best preserved fort in the Cherbourg roadstead, and is regularly opened to visitors during heritage days.
Around 1784, the Count of Chavagnac undertook soundings of the deep waters of the Cherbourg roadstead in order to study the future implantation of the grand harbour wall, and discovered several rocky islets. Later on during the mid XIXth century, military engineers used one of these rocky ridges to anchor a defensive fort near to the western pass of the roadstead. Built in 1854, the Chavagnac fort is a triangular edifice with rounded edges, designed to cross fire with the western battery on the end of the harbour wall. Swivelling armoured dugouts were added to the fort, and it was also strengthened by a stone parapet and a breakwater wall. Like all the main forts which make up the roadstead, it was concreted at the end of the XIXth century and electricity was installed. The fort is now in ruins, and can only be admired from the sea.
The stones used to build a first battery at the end of the XVIIIth century crumbled during a violent storm in 1808. Almost entirely rebuilt from 1811, the central fort is arranged around a lighthouse surrounded by barracks and logistic buildings. Built in an elliptical shape, it has a flat roof overlooking two rows of casemates, concealing a vast interior courtyard. Originally, the upper firing level, an open-air battery, made gunwale fire possible (above the parapet due to the elevated platform). However, the height of the structure was reduced at the end of the XIXth century, to keep pace with progress in artillery technology. The lighthouse was destroyed, the central courtyard was covered in concrete, and two exterior barracks were added. Under German occupation, the enemy troops modified the fort, installing a powerful garrison to provide guns for defending the western and eastern passes. Since the last period during which it came under fire, the central fort has retained a fortified dugout with armoured doors, an elevator to bring the munitions to the dugout, and a 37 mm cannon in its casing. Now seriously damaged and unstable, the fort is no longer accessible to the public.
Built in the mid XIXth century, the forts, known as the western and eastern forts rose above the waves at either end of the harbour walls surrounding the Cherbourg roadstead. They originally took the form of triple-tiered forts, of which two were casemates. These two forts were built around a circular courtyard, and they had two casemate levels with an open-air battery on top of them, with a parapet made from clay, covered with brick. The two ground levels were given over to the garrison's quarters, and also housed the armouries. They were concreted at the end of the XIXth century and they served as coastal defences during the 1940 campaign. Threatened by the rapidly advancing enemy, the French army blew up the marine battery inside the eastern fort on the 18th June 1940, which then led to the destruction of the whole fort, of which only a few blocks of concrete now remain.
Built in 1779 on a rocky mass on the site of a smaller fort, the fort of the island of Pelée was designed to strengthen the defences of the eastern pass of the Cherbourg roadstead. The engineer Pierre-Jean de Caux, director of the Lower Normandy fortifications, supervised the construction work, and created a work concentrating numerous pieces of ordnance within a restricted area, taking inspiration from the military architecture of the marquis of Montalembert. The fort, in the shape of an irregular semicircle with rounded walls to dissuade enemy fire, the fort is built around a central courtyard, and originally had two floors. On the ground floor are buildings designed to house supplies and munitions, protected by a monumental gate accessed by a ramp. On the upper level, casemate batteries are positioned ready to open fire on attackers. The whole edifice is topped with a flat roof positioned behind a parapet. Progress made in artillery technology towards the end of the XIXth century led to the redevelopment of the fort. It was concreted and its now useless parapets were removed. A smaller port protected by two stone groynes and an inclined plane in granite was added to the front of the edifice. Used for many years as a prison for political prisoners, the fort of the Island of Pelée was modernised by occupying German troops, who installed an electric power station inside its walls. Originally linked to dry land by a rocky outcrop, the island of Pelée and its fort are not open to visitors, only the ramparts of the fort are visible from the sea.
Cité de la mer and Le Redoutable The former transatlantic harbour station of Cherbourg is the jewel in the crown of 1930's architecture. Built in reinforced concrete in 1928 by the architect René Levavasseur, in collaboration with the engineers Chalos and Fleury, it retains its unique Art Deco style interior decoration designed by the Marc Simon workshop. Inaugurated in 1933 by the French President Albert Lebrun, the harbour station was partly destroyed by the Germans in 1944. It is now home to the Cité de la mer, a vast space dedicated to the discovery of human underwater exploits. Offering permanent exhibition galleries dedicated to ocean exploration, the Cité de la mer is now also home to the very first French nuclear submarine, Le Redoutable. Launched in 1967 from Cherbourg arsenal, the SNLE (nuclear submarine missile launcher) returned there in 1990 to be dismantled, and the section containing the nuclear steam supply system removed. Now on display on one side of the permanent exhibition gallery building, visitors can walk around it from the stern to the bow, guided by a recorded commentary through headphones (in French or English) and listen to sound effects of the submariners' daily lives. Visitors with reduced mobility can also visit the former war machine, where an interactive terminal enables them to go on a guided tour of the submersible.
Cherbourg and Haut-Cotentin Tourist Office 2, Quai Alexandre III 50100 Cherbourg-Octeville tel. 02.33.93.52.02 fax. 02.33.53.66.97 e-mail : tourisme@ot-cherbourg-cotentin.fr Cité de la mer Transatlantic harbour station 50100 Cherbourg-Octeville tel. 02.33.20.26.26 fax. 02.33.20.26.27

A salmon capital on the streets of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, Navarrenx was also the first fortified town in what would become the Kingdom of France. Lying at the heart of the Atlantic Pyrenees southwest of the Béarn plain, Navarrenx has been a fortified town since 1316. After the assault by Spanish troops led by Charles Quint who took over the city in 1523, Henri II d'Albret, the king of Navarre, decided to reinforce defences on the right bank of the mountain stream of Oloron. From 1538 to 1546, fortification works were carried out under the direction of Béarn master builders François Girard and Arnaud de Mirassor, as per the design of Italian architectural engineer Fabricio Siciliano.

Less than a century before the birth of Vauban, Navarrenx was thus transformed into a modern fortified town "Italian-style", based on the citadel of Lucas in Tuscany. Later, a powder magazine would be built that would store up to 25000 pounds of gunpowder: a square-shaped construction little more than nine metres long, it was originally surrounded by a wall, part of which was visible aboveground. While this wall has since disappeared, the thickness of this wall (1.4m) and the lowness of the building (6m) prevented it from receiving direct hits from enemy forces.
The fortifications were tried and tested during religious wars under the reign of Jeanne of Albret, when the garrison under the command of the Baron of Arros successfully resisted a three-month siege in 1568. The town was re-equipped in the XVIII century, in particular with the Saint-Antoine gate built by engineer De Salmon on the ruins of an old church. Facing Spain, the gate owed its name to a chapel that welcomed pilgrims and was destroyed during the construction of the ramparts. With three massive arcades, the town was accessed via a drawbridge, the passage of the chains of which can still be seen today. In the XIX century, work on road and rail infrastructure led to the destruction of the old Saint-Germain gate which faced France.
Over the centuries, the fortified wall of Navarrenx has retained its main features. It outlines a reinforced firing range at each of its five corners with a bastion. Two of the five are fitted with anti-mine galleries, while a glacis and ground structures reinforce the town to the east, ahead of the moat. Several barracks have been built inside the walls to house the garrison, one of which nowadays is used as the tourist information office. From the top of the ramparts (for example, from the crenellation platform overhanging the Saint-Antoine gate), there is a pleasant view of the Pyrenees and, below, the arches of the bridge of Navarrenx (XIII century).
Visits There is free access to the 1818-metre perimeter of the town. The walls of the city contain bilingual (French-English) descriptive plaques that trace the history of each structure. Information on guided visits can be obtained from the Navarrenx district tourist office. How to get there 80 km from Bayonne via Peyrehoarde and Escos on the A 64/E 80 (exit no. 6 Peyrehoarde), then the D 936 and D 115. 40 km from Pau via Tarsacq, Noguères and Mourenx along the D 2, the D 281 then the D 111. 60 km from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port along the D 933 towards Sauveterre-de-Béarn, then the D 936. 6 km from Gurs along the D 947 and D 936. Canton of Navarrenx Tourist Office L'Arsenal - Rue Saint-Germain 64190 Navarrenx Tel.: 05.59.66.14.93 Fax: 05.59.66.54.80 e-mail : navarrenx@tourisme-bearn-gaves.fr