I must admit that when we first started to talk about a trip to France, I wasn’t overjoyed. Our first trip to France was in…
5 weeks went by so fast. Just seems like yesterday we started our tour of France and now, getting ready to head back to beautiful Colorado….
Just a few more pictures from Paris starting with the Arc de Triumph (built 1806-1836). Located at the western end of the Champs-Elysees, the Arc stands 164′ tall, 148′…
Well, pretty close to perfect but Paris has a few quirks. To sum it up in a word, Crowded! To sum it up in two…
The picture below is of a woman that tried to scam us in Paris. She pretended to find a gold ring on the ground and was…
Time for us to take off for Paris but not before we take another look at Reims. This is probably the smallest town we’ve stayed in during…
As part of our continuing WW,Too tour, we visited the site where Germany signed the surrender. A pretty non-descript, brick building located across from the rail…
Just outside of Reims is a little town called Epernay that lives for champagne. Home to growers, houses, cellars and co-operatives, Epernay and the surrounding…
“Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we’re fighting for, it’s Champagne!” – Sir Winston Churchill Couldn’t have said it better. Reims, France is the capital…
On the way to Reims, we stopped off at Verdun, WW1’s longest and costliest battle. The battle for Verdun began in February 1916 and continued until…
Whatever name you use, the Cathedral de Metz (nicknamed, “God’s Lantern) is one of the most ornate we’ve seen on our tour. The cathedral stands where the shrine…
Quick intro to the Maginot Line. The line is a series of forts and fortifications that formed a defensive “line” between France and Germany, Luxembourg,…
Here we are on Sunday morning and I’m finally getting around to writing about our travels to Metz. Woke up this morning to the unusual…
As part of our UNESCO funded history tour, well, I wish. Anyway, Lyon has been an important location for centuries. After Julius Caesar received the working…
Sounded kind of interesting. Take a bike and put an electric motor on it that helps when you pedal, cruise around a foreign country in…
First and foremost the French people have been wonderful. Everyone we’ve met has been helpful and understanding. Our limited French vocabulary hasn’t been too much…
Trying to catch up on the fattening side of the WW,Too tour. Throwing in a few pictures of what Collette has eaten. I’ve had a croissant….
Packed it in for Bordeaux and headed out for the eastern side of France, Lyon. Shame to leave all that wine behind! What we know…
One last adventure in the Bordeaux area was to tour St. Emilion. Very well known for excellent wines, we visited during the week to avoid…
Dordogne (pronounced, “Dordonha”) is a department (county?) in southwestern France. It is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, 04 March…
On Saturday, 10 June, 1944 at approximately 2:00pm, soldiers of the Der Furher Regiment of the 2nd Waffen SS Panzer Division entered a small French…
You knew there had to be a WW2 part to this WW,Too city we visited. The submarine base or bunker or pen was erected primarily…
Wine! That’s all that I have to say about this town. Not really, there are many great things to see in Bordeaux. The wine region…
Our time in Caen (pronounced, “Cone” in case you forgot) has come to a close. The apartment was perfect, close to everything, clean and had…
Taking a break from the war, we visited the town of Bayeux to see the 11th century tapestry. Sorry no pictures were allowed although that…
Located on a 247 acre island approximately 1 kilometer from land, Mont St. Michel has been a strategic fortification since ancient times, and since the…
On 8 Jun 1944, the Allies are moving into France with Carentan as their objective. On the road to St. Come-du-Mont the first tank arrives….
The Caen Canal Bridge (renamed the Pegasus Bridge after D-Day) has the honor of being one of D-Days first battle scenes. On the night of…
So a little background on the beach names. Prior to the invasion, the British & Canadian beaches were named after fish; Goldfish, Jellyfish and Swordfish….
We’re off to Juno and Sword beaches. Juno was assigned to the Canadian’s (Canuck’s) who had ~14,000 troops ready to assault the 6 mile beach….
Not much remains of Gold Beach as it was in 1944. Today there are vacation homes, beach huts and a hot spot for tourists in…
Pointe du Hoc is situated on a promontory with a 100′ tall cliff facing the English Channel. This point was a strategic advantage for the…
Situated on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, is the 172 acre cemetery for American soldiers killed in action during the D-Day invasion. The…
The morning of June 6th saw 34,000 US troops descending on Omaha Beach. This was the first wave of soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division,…
A little about the area: Utah Beach was the first beach to have Allied troops land and engage the enemy. On that day, 6 June…
So, now that Adolf has a group of guys wanting to help him bring Germany back from economic disaster (army, navy, air force, death squads, etc.)…
So real quick and not too much detail. Once, long ago, there was this guy I’ll call Adolf who had a plan. Adolf wanted to be…
With an uneventful and somewhat relaxing flight, we begin our tour of France. Something big is going to happen, just know it since the flight…
So back at the drawing board for the next adventure. This 1-month stay in France will include WW2 sites, wineries, champagne cellars, city tours and…
In the makings for more than 3 months is our upcoming War and Wine Too tour. Scheduled for this September and October, we’re planning our next adventure to…