French Priory to Nazi Bunkers

6 min readSep 12, 2021

We experienced quite a range of sights today in northern France. First though, we had to take care of a bit of housekeeping. Our Airbnb in Laon wasn’t equipped with a washer so I walked to a small Lavomatique up the street.

Although I can’t read much French, I deduced that “En révision” meant “out of order” on machine № 3. At the main control panel, I selected the number of the washer I wanted to use and added money. The machine automatically started so I had to be sure the clothes and detergent were ready to go!

With the wash spinning, I had time to wander the downtown streets. I noticed the front of a French newspaper highlighting the anniversary of 9/11:

I’d read France recently joined other EU countries in banning unvaccinated Americans from entering the country. Masks are required to enter businesses and restaurants here. The French also require a Pass sanitaire QR code on your phone to be scanned for verification of your vaccination status.

Once the wash was done, I channeled my inner French, stopped at a Boulangerie and bought a fresh baguette. We’d decided to pack a lunch for today’s exploring.

It’s just on the cusp of fall here with temperatures in the low 70s (almost perfect). The sun is warm but the air feels cool. The trees haven’t started turning yet but I imagine they will begin in the next few weeks.

We drove through the countryside west of Laon to an isolated priory called Prieuré du tortoir near the village of Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois. These fortified buildings dated from about 1350.

Evidently a priory is a monastery run by a prior, who doesn’t rank quite as high in the Catholic hierarchy as an abbot, who presides over an abbey.

Although it had apparently served as someone’s house in the past few years, it didn’t appear that anyone lived there now. Perhaps there’d been plans of a restoration that got out of hand? With that in mind, I wandered around the grounds, peaking in the windows and barn.

Once back in the car, we headed for the vicinity of Margival. I’d read about a hidden Nazi complex called Wolfsschlucht II. After the fall of France in May 1940, the Germans built an extensive Führer Headquarters near this tiny French village north of Paris to oversee the anticipated invasion of England.

We wandered around town until we spotted the top of a concrete bunker structure in the trees across some railroad tracks. I was certain the gates would be closed but as we drove up to the guard house, they were wide open!

More than 22,000 (slave) workers spent 18 months constructing this facility but it was never used as the Nazis intended. Stalling an invasion of England, the Germans instead focused on bombing the Brits into submission with the Luftwaffe. The Blitz commenced in the later summer of 1940.

By the following summer, an impatient Hitler had diverted his attention to the invasion of Russia and Operation Barbarossa.

After the Allies landed in Normandy in June 1944, Hitler did hurry to Wolfsschlucht II to meet with Field Marshals Erwin Rommel and Gerd von Rundstedt. One reason this valley was chosen for the complex was because the adjacent train tracks entered a long tunnel nearby, thus providing cover to hide the Führer’s train from roving Allied planes.

We were amazed at the massive network of offices, bunkers, communication posts and defensive fortifications. Although the French forest was slowly reclaiming the site, this silent vestige of World War II was still powerful.

Of course Mom thought she was getting cafes, châteaus and art museums on a trip to France. Instead, she’s hanging at a Nazi bunker ha!