Bitche is near the Maginot Line in the Alsace Lorraine region of France. The bunkers were a famous French strategy to prevent Germany from invading France (again!) after World War One. It didn’t work. The Nazis went through Belgium.
The region is full of green rolling hills. In each valley is a village of some tens of thousands of people living among a melange of old bakeries, new subdivisions, castles and signs in both French and German. At the top of one of the biggest hills is the Citadel of Bitche a 17th century fortress. It is now the imposing home to a museum of the Franco-Prussian war, one of the many wars between France and Germany . . the ultimate result of which was the beautiful mixture of German and French cultures as the region was passed between countries for 400 years.
But, we were there to play golf! The course was long and beautiful. It was built on rolling hills near the Citadel. We played the A and B nine holes. It is a course that required a lot of local knowledge because of the hills. There were a lot of tees over metal markers . . blind tee shots. These usually worry me, but fortunately René nephew, Silvan, was a member and helped us. Silvan had a six handicap and had been a member of the club for thirty years . . and this was his last day. He was offered an opportunity to play in Nancy, where his wife was the head of Human Resources for a school district.
The French play a round of golf in three to four hours . . they keep moving and they use hand carts. So, with so many hills, it was a good exercise. We used an automated trolley which helped up the hills. Then we all sat down and ate a late lunch . . wine, beer, conversation and several courses of excellent food. We finally left at 5:30 PM. It was another wonderful experience. Next time, I am going to have to skip the wine and/or beer!
During the day, at odd times, I started thinking about the elections and how imperative it is to stop the despot wannabes who are trying to blunt the progress made during the last 60 years. The abuses which lead to the need for strategies like the Maginot line. Our democracy is a hard won right and it is up to us to stop its takeover by those who want to circumvent it and use it for their own purposes.
The Maginot Line sits in silent testament.