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Versailles Fountain Conversion
Just as we were about to leave the palace gardens, we heard shotguns in the distance. I've read that hunting is big in France, But thought it strange a shooting range would be located next to the...
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We Climbed that Arch
If you climb the Eiffel Tower at night,You won't have a view of the Eiffel Tower at night. So we climbed the Arc de Triomphe.(It was free with our museum passes)But only after stopping by the Musee...
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Grandpa Sam's First WWI Battle: The Champagne-Marne Defensive
Grandpa Sam was a member of the 41st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. He fought with the 66th Field Artillery Brigade, in the 146th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Battery E.(All this is helpful...
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Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial
We rented a car, and followed Grandpa Sam, 94 years down the road, to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial.Where 3,330 American soldiers rest: 2,300 beneath marble crosses, And 1,000...
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Chateau-Thierry American Monument
We pulled up to the Chateau-Thierry American Monument in our Opel station wagon, just as it started to rain. The kids shot out of the car, And ran up the monument's steps.This is where in May 1918 the...
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Bivouacking and Chemical Weapons: Grandpa Sam's March to Battle #2
Grandpa Sam's first series of battles lasted from July 15th through August 6th. After a few weeks of recuperating, his brigade marched from Chateau-Theirry to the St. Mihiel Assailant, where the...
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St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial
We pulled up to the front gates of the St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial 30 minutes before closing. We were not expected. (The last visitors' book entry was three weeks back).Yet, the pristine...
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Montsec American Monument
From the St. Mihiel Cemetery we drove 12 miles to Montsec, A village clustered about the foot of a prominent butte, Then up a windy road to the American monument, Commemorating the swift September...
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An Alsatian Castle for the Night
After visiting the two WWI battle sites, we drove into the Vosges Mountain National Park. Originally, I wanted to stay in a castle hotel for the night (for the kids, right?) but after running up the...
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Over the River and Through the Woods to Graufthal
My fifth great grandparents on my mom's side are from a little town in the Vosges National Park. My parents and I woke up before the kids and drove down the mountain to check it out.Meet Christian...
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Grandpa Sam's Final WWI Conflict: The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne
Even though we were headed for Normandy, there were two stops left on our World War One road trip: the Mount Faucon American Monument, and the Muese-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial. This area...
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The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial
We arrived at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial around lunchtime, stopped of at the visitor center to use the restroom, and drove across the valley to the memorial chapel. Kristi made...
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Our Home On Utah Beach
In Normandy, we stayed at Ivy House. The owners, Andy and Emma, greeted us at 11:00 p.m. with bread and a mini-fridge full of food. (We got held up in Paris traffic)They lent us bikes, And gave great...
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Ayn Rand and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
Sunday morning, after going to church in Caen, We stopped by the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Busloads of cruise-ship passengers combined with airport style security screening at the...
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Pointe Du Hoc
We left the Normandy American Cemetery and drove down the coast with no particular destination,So we followed signs with an American flag to a place called,Pointe du Hoc. During the US assalt of the...
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The Scarlet Pimpernel Castle: Mont St. Michel
My family grew up on 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour.At the end of the film the bad guy, Ian McKellen, thinks he has the good guy trapped, on a...
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The Rooster of St. Eloi de Vierville
Driving around france we passed thousands of little perish churches, Topped with rooster weathervanes. Or last day in France we left Ivy House with an airport hotel as our destination, Which left...
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The Disappointments of Rouen Cathedral
"I suppose few people stand before the west front of Rouen Cathedral without some feeling of disappointment . . . The stone here looks dirty and dusty--so dusty that the over-fine tracery of the gable...
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Goodbye France 2012
I went to a Westminster College France reunion tonight. We ate chocolate cake, reminisced about late nights in Lyon, and watched a slide show. Melissa (Dr. Koerner) convinced me to run a marathon, and...
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