Cherbourg was not a beautiful place in the 1940s. It was one of the most important ports in Europe, and was overtaken by the German army early in the fighting. Thousands of French troops escaped from here on boats to England one day before their conquerors took over the city.

Fort Roule. We visited this place a few days ago. It is now a museum, and we spent about two hours wandering through it and reading about the war. I only took a few photos.

This granite building and a myriad of runnels bored in the "mountain" (it's only several hundred feet high) were a command post of the German occupation of Cherbourg in WW II. You can see some of the tunnel exits/gun emplacements just below the top of the mountain.