The grave of Marquis de La Fayette Picpus Cemetery in Paris
Posted on 07/17/2015 12:32:02 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE
My daughter (A research librarian) and I are planning a 1 week north France-Belgium-Luxemburg trip later this fall to see the historic battlefields and "general sites" across the area. Would fly into Paris, go the the "usual" tourist sites there by tour bus, but then she wants to drive across the area looking at the area of the battlefields and sites across the region.
Over 2000 years since the Roman conquests, there are obviously hundreds - if not thousands - of interesting sites. Equally, we want to go to the more interesting architectural and battlefields just to "see" what each one really looks like: the Paris buildings, Mont St-Michel, Crecy, Agincourt for Medieval.
Waterloo (south of Brussels).
The trenches of Loos, Ypres at least. The Somme valley itself? Probably not enough time. Verdun is also too far to reasonably drive unfortunately.
Normandy (while over near St-Michel), Dieppe, Calais, Falais, the Eben-Emanual ruins, Bastogne, the Ardennes.
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What else would you add? Which have you been to, and would recommend skipping?
I know the written histories of these from many different sources, and I know this can't be a very in-depth tour at any of the places, but we want to get to a realistic number of the sites.
After leaving Paris, we are planning to stay at a local hotel near Normandy, then another one near the Belgium border, then drive to the sites near each.
Les Invalides in Paris, of course. War museum and Napoleon’s tomb. Probably already on your Paris list.
Just visited Normandy, went to Utah and Omaha Beach, and visited the American Cemetary on Omaha Beach. Definitely a “must do” for any red-blooded American.
Mont Saint Michel
Patton Monument in Luxembourg.
Ypres. My great grandfather was in the Canadian EF when the Germans first used gas.
Also Oradour Sur Glane, immortalized in the opening episode of ‘The World at War’, “The Day the Soldiers Came....”
There is plenty left at Normandy - a must see. I thought the Bayeux tapestry was fascinating. It's not a battlesite but Mont St. Michel is beautiful.
Stop off in Mons, Belgium on the way to Waterloo. This is where the first shots between Germany and England were fired during WWI.
Don’t miss Bastogne, Belgium. The graveyard is literally staggering, and the town brings WWII to life like no other site. I have rarely been more moved.
As a complete aside—it has some of the best food in Europe.
I would say look at your route, there are so many sites
that some are bound to be on or close to it.
You need more time but still the opportunity of a
lifetime.
The ossuarie at Thiepval and the tatoo every evening.
Waterloo is close to several sites too.
Mainly have fun, don’t make it too stressful and take
a break from site seeing in the middle and just relax
at a cafe or something.
Wish I was going with you, one of my bucket list things.
Take extra SD cards and take lots of pix and video, you
can always capture stills from it later.
Envious Tet.
Also you and your daughter might enjoy a movie
called “A very long engagement” in french with subtitles
about WW1 and some of the happenings at that time.
the cinematography is awesome!
You should be able to find some beautiful examples of
Poilu metal work to take home at reasonable prices.
They made mementos from shell cases and driving bands
for their loved ones at home.
Have seen several here at gun shows but passed them
up because of $$$ but have regretted it ever since
because I have a metal work collection since I’m
a blacksmith of some 40 years.
Be sure to bump me when you get back, want to hear all
about it.
Bastogne is just south of Brussels. There’s not much at Waterloo. Normandy is a must.
1. Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer; visit between 8:00-9:00 a.m. You may be lucky enough to be alone there. Bring Kleenex.
2. Omaha Beach; get a good travel guide to locate the gun emplacements, tobruks, weiderstand nests, etc. Try to visit during low tide. It’ll give you an idea of how far the soldiers had to go once they left the boats.
3. Pointe du Hoc; bomb craters are still there. Fascinating
4. Sainte-Mere-Eglise; don’t miss the museum.
5. American Cemetery at Lorraine; more visually impressive than any military cemetery I’ve ever seen.
6. Ardennes Forest. Ask the locals where the original “Easy Company” foxholes are located. The trees were harvested last September, so the foxholes were inaccessible, but you might get lucky. There’s a monument along the road across from the forest.
7. Bastogne; there are two MUST SEE museums: The Bastogne War Museum (opened about a year ago) and the 101st Airborne Museum. If you can visit only one, visit the 101st Museum. Go to the basement and experience a bombing raid on Bastogne.
You’ll want to go back to see what you missed, so plan another trip as soon as you get home.
Enjoy!
Mont St. Michel is definitely worth seeing, but it is a 2 hour drive from the Normandy beaches. One day for the beaches of Normandy, the next morning to Bayeux and then to Mont St. Michel or on toward Belgium. with a stop at the Ypres battlefield and then Waterloo after lunch. 2-3 hours each at Ypres & Waterloo. Bastogne is a day’s visit for the perimeter, museum, and off to Wiltz and Clarveaux (Clerf) then on to Hamm the next day and Patton’s grave.
Visiting the north shoulder of the Bulge from Lanzerath, Malmedy, St. Vith, Trois Pont, Stavelot and LaGlieze is a day’s trip on its own.
There are some Verdun Forts open on the weekends, but you won’t miss skipping them.
Visit Ypres by all means. Every night at 8pm they hold a short ceremony at the monument honoring the soldiers whose remains were never found. Their names are on the monument. Also they offer battlefield tours there and love British, American and Canadian citizens. I got treated royally in a pub there.
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