We got to Verdun and we visited the World War I memorial. Centered around the graves of 137,000 unknown French and German soldiers, it was a sobering reminder of the scale and impact of that somewhat forgotten conflict. We had not really foreseen the kind of impact that rows and rows of blank crosses could cause.

The monument is open year round, no entrance fee, and public bathrooms are available.

The city of Verdun, however, was a complete disappointment and left much to be desired, so being only 5:00 PM we decided to head south to Toul, which our piece of shit guidebook had made sound like a decent place. Around 6:00 we got to Toul, and found it similar to Verdun - cheap, crappy, and busy. Despite this, we decided to stay there as we were getting tired, and we  started looking for a hotel. Problem was, we couldn't find one. Really. We were now getting frustrated, and as it was getting dark, we were starting to get really irritated.