Bastogne was the encircled town in Belgium that the Americans held out in, despite all German efforts to take it, during the Werhmacht onslaught starting December 16, 1944.  The main sites to visit are the pentagonal Bastogne Monument, and the adjacent excellent Historical Center (good place to start an Ardennes tour, as the museum shows a superb film to lay the groundwork of the battle).

 

But if you have the time, visit the Information Center in downtown Bastogne and pick up a brochure listing various drives that can be made around American/German "perimeter" positions.  A point of particular note is about 1 kilometer south of town, and just north of Assenois.  On December 26, tanks of the 37th Tank Battalion (4th Armored ) under Lieutenant Charles Boggess smashed through Assenois and at a concrete pillbox forced some lead German soldiers in it to surrender, meeting-up with U.S. troops on the southern line of the siege [the pillbox, with shellhole marks, is still there with a plaque on it commemorating Boggess].  This broke the German cordon around Bastogne - although in the following days there was continued fierce fighting as the Americans tried to widen the corridor, and the Wehrmacht attempted to close it off.     

The next several postings here will feature sites in the famous Battle of the Bulge, the Germans final attempt to change the war situation in the West from December 16, 1944, to early February, 1945.  There are many, many museums, monuments, and sights in the beautiful rolling hilled country of the Ardennes.  Also great restaurants and lodging!  Some of the gemmed towns just to mention are:  Bastogne, Clerveaux, Marche, Diekirch,  and La Gleize.

Also in Paris, at the west end of the Champs-Elysee is found the unforgettable Arc de Triomphe.  Completed in 1836, it was initially built to commemorate France's military triumphs from Napolean's time and prior.  The names of 588 French generals are listed on its inside walls; there is a museum in the attic to climb to.  At the base rests the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War; also is found the eternal flame.  Get to the Arc "island" by walking underground in one of the metro tunnels leading out to it.

A must-see in Paris is the spectacular Napoleon's Tombe in Les Invalides.  Napoleon's massive cask is the feature, but also in the domed-cathedral are tombs of other French military greats like Vauban and Foch.  There is an excellent WW I and II museum adjacent.  Across a park is a non-military and  terrific museum in the area - pay a visit to Rodin's, with all the major works of sculpture by the renowned artist.

About 15 miles northeast of Chateau Thierry is found the American World War I Oise-Aisne Cemetery (go to www.abmc.gov for U.S. cemetery information and details).  Found are graves and missing for American troops of the AEF who mostly perished in the Aisne-Marne offensive in July and August of 1918.  The cemetery is placed on a ridge around which the fighting was quite contested.  Of further interest - in a separate plot behind the Visitor's Center, at one time there were the graves of some American troops from the  World War II era, who committed major crimes in Europe and were executed by the U.S. military justice system.

Ninety-seven miles north of Paris and 9 miles north of St. Quentin (Aisne), are found several interesting World War I sites.  The American 27th and 30th Divisions fought in this area in September 1918, assisting the British in breaking the Hindenburg Line in the final drives of the war.  There is the American WW I cemetery at Bony; striking as it rests on farmland on the hill of the main American drive.  The Bellicourt Monument just west and south commemorates the actions of U.S. troops in this area; it stands on the heart of the old German line, and on the hill built over the St. Quentin Canal.  A few miles to the south is the incredibly interesting, high Riqueval Bridge; original from 1918 (reinforced through the years, of course), which straddles the canal and gives a magificant view northwards.  The British captured it before destruction by the retreating Kaiser's Army. 

Cantigny is the village to the south of the WW I Somme Battlefield area, just northwest of Montpelier, that was enveloped as part of the great German MICHAEL Spring offensive in 1918 - the attempt to split the French and British lines, drive to the sea pushing the British out of their coastal ports, and win the war before the freshly arriving American troops could get fully involved.  The Germans used new 'stormtrooper' tactics with success; but overall while there were tactical gains, the offensive was a strategic failure.

 

Cantigny, within the new Salient, was counterattacked by American troops of the 1st "Big Red One" Division in late May - the first action at Division-level by U.S. troops in the war.  Cantigny was small on the scale of WW I operations, but important in that the Americans held despite vigorous German counter-assaults.  There is a monument in the center of town to the Americans; Cantigny is still just a small village in the middle of farmland, and the battle can  be readily retraced using operational maps of the period. [and for the best of these for the American effort in WW I, get yourself a copy of American Armies and Battlefields in Europe, originally published in 1927 but many reprints and copies floating around]

The WW II Brittany (also referred to as St. James) Cemetery lies 12 miles south of Avranches - the famous road-center where American troops swung out to Brittany or headed east, in the breakout from the Normandy Region in late July 1944.  Like all ABMC cemeteries and monuments, this one is a stunning and fitting tribute to the troops.  There are not many visitors, as St. Laurent to the north on the Normandy beachhead draws vastly more attention, of course.  But if visiting Brittany, one can drive south through St. Lo and Operation COBRA country of the breakout and the German WW II cemetery at Marigny.  And put in an extra 1/2 day to visit the nearby island Mont St.-Michel - the eighth wonder of the world!

The Mulberries were the incredible artificial ports built in the United Kingdom to support the Allied landings in Normandy.  Towed across the Channel shortly after D-Day June 6, 1944, one was placed at the British sector Arromanches and one at the American Omaha Beach by Vierville; the latter blew away in the great storm of June 19.  Present day there is a terrific museum, with remains out in the harbor, at Arromanches - do not miss this... the best museum in Normandy!  But at Vierville - which was also a key "draw" the Americans had to fight up - there is also an interesting remains of a Mulberry pontoon that a modern-day pier is built over, and also on the road up from the beach, a massive section of the original Mulberry pier.  The scope of all this effort resulted in one of the engineering feats of All-Time - and should not be missed!

The Omaha Beach Museum is a gem often overlooked by people just going to Arromanches and St. Mere-Eglise.  Just down from St. Laurent and almost on the beach, displays from the famous June 6, 1944 action are outstanding.  But what distingishes it are the photos from D-Day and just after.  All readings state that Robert Capa was the designated photographer on Omaha, and almost all his photos were overexposed and lost back in England.  However, this museum has photos of the action that I have not found anywhere else - superb layout, quite interesting.  Also - want to see a 'Belgian Gate'?  Omaha Beach Museum has it!     Doug