Tag: war touring
D-Day Turns 75: Five Threads Leading from the Beaches of Normandy
Beyond the numerous commemorative ceremonies that accompany the 75th anniversary of D-Day and of the liberation of villages and towns over the ensuing ten weeks, here are five telling ways in which organizations and businesses are using, (re)interpreting or inspired by Normandy’s wartime memory in 2019.
Editor of France Revisited Lectures in NJ and PA
France Revisited's Gary Lee Kraut, who grew up in Lawrence and Ewing, NJ, will return to the Mercer County (NJ), Bucks County (PA) area in February for a series of lectures and special events about travel, wine, biking, Jewish history and American war sights in France.
Over There: WWI Sights of the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive
This article, including three videos, focuses on sights relative to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of the U.S. First Army in the fall of 1918, specifically the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne 14-18, the Romagne German Cemetery and the Montfaucon Monument.
ABMC WWI Museum Opens at Chateau-Thierry’s American Monument
History has never been America’s strong point, and our grasp of our own role in the First World War is no exception. We need more context and basic information than other combatants of the Great War in order to begin to understand its significance. Thanks to the new little museum at the foot of the American Monument above Chateau-Thierry, context and information are now readily available on a daytrip or more from Paris.
Daytrip from Paris: A Compiègne-Pierrefonds Biking Excursion
Within an hour’s train ride from Paris, many cycling routes allow for a daytrip of biking and touring. This one involves a visit to the town of Compiegne and biking through the forest between the Palace of Compiegne and the Castle of Pierrefonds, with the possibility of a detour to the Glade of the Armistice.
The Silence of Oradour-sur-Glane
As Elisabeth Esris walks the charred and shattered streets of Oradour-sur-Glane (near Limoges) with other visitors the uniformity of silence is remarkable. This is not a place for conversation or expletive even though each step leads to palpable savagery.
D-Day Revisited: The Airborne Museum’s Disturbing Glorification of Ronald Reagan
Two films are shown at the Airborne Museum in Sainte Mere Eglise, Normandy. One of them is among the better introductory films to a visit to the Landing Zone. The other, a film glorifying Ronald Reagan, is undoubtedly the worst. An editorial explaining why the latter should be taken down.
The American Traveler and the First World War Sights in France
Between America First and me first there isn't much daylight for a national history lesson. Nevertheless, you don't have to be a war buff or a history buff to visit American-related First World War sights in France and to understand how they relate to our place in the world today.
Lion Feuchtwanger and the Milles Internment and Deportation Camp Near Aix-en-Provence
By Wendy Dubreuil. Aix-en-Provence may call to mind fountain-side cafés, the work of Cézanne, aristocratic palaces and the scent of lavender, but just several miles from the sunny heart of town lies a cautionary tale: the Camp des Milles, the only large French interment and deportation camp from WWII that is preserved and open to the public.