The last house of the village, at the _I.C. 13_ crossing, on the right, bears the inscription “_Café Hocquard_.” Here are three large concrete shelters, the walls of which are five feet thick. _At the fork in the road is_ a machine-gun blockhouse in concrete. [Illustration: ST. BAUSSANT VILLAGE AND RUINS OF THE OLD CASTLE] [Illustration: RICHECOURT VILLAGE AND THE RUPT-DE-MAD STREAM _In the foreground: The bridge over which I.C. 19 passes. In the background: Montsec Hill._] _Take I.C. 13 to the left, which follows the Rupt-de-Mad stream and becomes G.C. 33 on reaching_ =Lahayville.= _1,600 yards beyond this village_ (greatly damaged), _leave G.C. 33 and take I.C. 19 to the right. After crossing the bridge over the Rupt-de-Mad_, =Richecourt=, razed to the ground, _is reached_ (_photo above_). _Near a house on the left, at the end of the village, is_ a German concrete shelter with the inscription “Pommernburg.” Other shelters of less importance are to be seen among the ruins. [Illustration: GERMAN SHELTER IN RICHECOURT VILLAGE _This concrete shelter is seen on leaving the village by the road to Montsec. Over the door is the word_ “Pommernburg.” _The village is a heap of ruins._] [Illustration: MONTSEC _German Telephone Exchange on the road to Woinville._] _Follow I.C. 19 as far as_ =Montsec= (_3 km._). The village of Montsec is at the foot of the hill; it was badly damaged. =Montsec Ridge=, or Hill 380, made a first-class observation-post for the Germans, as it dominates the whole district from Apremont to Flirey. Montsec was the scene of the fiercest fighting on June 17, 1916. The French were unable to take it on account of its formidable defences. From that time no surprise-attacks took place in this district. [Illustration: MONTSEC. RUINS OF CHURCH AND VILLAGE] On the crest, the Germans had constructed a system of tunnels, the entries of which overlooked the region of Heudicourt-Buxières, and at the end of which chimneys over 30 feet in height opened in the summit of the hill. The observers climbed up the chimneys by means of ladders and directed the firing of the artillery, which was massed in the surrounding woods. [Illustration: MONTSEC _German Signalling Post._] The system of trenches and shelters was remarkable. In some places the shelters were furnished with electric light. _To visit the military works of Montsec, go beyond the village along I.C. 19 and stop at the last houses on the left, where there is_ an enormous concrete shelter, which served as an artillery telephone exchange, (_photo, p. 78_). _A narrow road leads from this shelter to the entrances of the tunnels on the crest._ (_Time required to visit: one hour._) [Illustration: AMERICAN COLUMNS MARCHING TOWARDS MONTSEC (SEPT. 13, 1918)] [Illustration: ESSEY CHURCH] _After visiting Montsec return to St. Baussant by the same roads (I.C. 19 to Richecourt, then G.C. 33 and I.C. 13)._