Friday, July 06, 2007
After exploring the Hatten site, we drove along the Maginot Line for a while. It was cool riding along these winding country roads and then off to the right or left you would see the forts in the hillside. We grabbed some lunch near the border and then headed for home.
Here's Jake and Grandpa looking at some of the vehicles.
Here's Jake on top of the fort. It was really cool exploring the area. On this site they have lots of old planes, vehicles and a room full of old Nazi propaganda. Here is a link to the Hatten official website:
http://www.maginot-hatten.com/en/index.php?lang=en
This diagram shows how the fort was set-up and divided into various rooms.
Located 35 miles (50 km) north of Strasbourg and 25 miles (40 km) west of Karlsruhe, the "Abri" (shelter) is an underground barracks. Built in 1930, the "ouvrage" offered all the facilities needed to feed and accommodates a company of soldiers during war-time: dorms, toilets and showers, a well, a boiler room, an engine room, protection against poison gas, close defence.French troops occupied the "Abri" from 1936 to 1940.The "Abri" is a subterranean fort, built into the slope and invisible from the surface. The two thick armored doors piercing its massive blank 60 meter-long exposed face were covered by four machine gun positions. The diamond ditch, or moat, designed to collect the blocks of concrete splintering off the facade in case of a bombing attack, created an additional obstacle. Other standard features include two half-caponnieres (machine gun positions at moat level) equipped with crenels supplying close defensive fires and tubes for ejecting grenades into the ditch. Two GFM (Lookout and Machine Gun) "cloches" (cupolas) located on top of the structure served as observation and defensive positions. The fort was equipped with an antenna for radio transmissions.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Today we all went out to France to explore the city of Hatten and the Maginot Line. Scott rode out on his Harley and I followed with mom and dad in the car.
And here are the kids with their fabulous teacher - Georgiana Vidican-Teohari. We are going to really miss her!
There were 22 students that performed at the concert. Grandma and Grandpa Talluto were even able to attend! They had gotten into Germany the day before for a visit.
Kaitlyn performed three songs: The Musette, The March (from the Nutcracker Suite)by Tchaikovsky, and Jagerchord. She was just wonderful!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Today, the kids had their piano concert at our chapel on post. They both played beautifully! We are really going to miss our teacher. Georgiana has been wonderful! Jake played five songs this time: Shooting the Rapids, Sailing, Olympic Games, The Tarantella and Romanian Rhapsody.
