Bitche

About a month ago, we traveled to Bitche, France. It's a small town with a big name. There have been many discussions about how to pronounce it, but after asking many locals, I've come to the conclusion that it should be pronounced like the swear word.
We mounted our bikes (mine is the red one) and headed south, along with Jer's 1st Sergeant. The ride was nice and it was the first really warm, sunny, spring-like weekend. We rode for about 50 miles, then right as we came over a hill, we saw the amazing citadel before us (look at the first picture to the left on top of the hill, you will see the road we came over). It sits with such grandeur atop the town's hill. We rode through the streets to the parking area at the top.
The long walkway up was beautiful and offered stunning views. There was a miniature pony that I fed grass to. There was also a miniature something else that I did not feed.
We paid our fare and entered the citadel with headphones as our tour guide. They worked by proximity, so as we moved further into the citadel, the narration would change. We saw a door that was 18 inches thick with gashes where men with axes tried to forcefully enter so long ago.
We went underground and saw the biggest well I've ever seen. The buckets and rope were so large and heavy that they made a 2-man hamster wheel to bring the buckets up and down.
We watched a movie (that played in English on our headphones) that was definitely French-made; a little weird. It was a reenactment of the history of the Franco-Prussian war involving citadel. They were able to throw some nudity in there, though it didn't really fit. There was a naked lady running down a hill covered in stage-blood. It looked like a joke more than real. I think they put that in there just because they can. Really, why was this woman naked? My take on it: the bad guys stole her clothes while she was showering, she ran away but slipped on dead bodies on the ground, getting herself bloody, and ran down a hill. Despite this, the film was somewhat interesting, but mostly because I never really knew this part of French history.
There was also a church with a secret water storage beneath it. Enormous! As much volume as a small house!
It was a cool place to see and a great day trip. On our way out we stopped for some very fitting pictures. This day was Bitche'n!