Tag Archives: 1. Weltkrieg

La Vie en France #38: “Where Words Leave Off, Music Begins”

November 15, 2018 by Randy
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    This quote by German poet Heinrich Heine seems appropriate as my final days in Lorraine, France wind down in 2018 and that melancholy feeling (of leaving France) begins to set in.  During the last two years I have had the great experience of being able to live in France for eight months as freelance tour guide!  I plan to continue offering tours in 2019; but I have to balance my tour plans with the realistic need to find a real job again too.  Continue reading →

Travel Tips: On the Road (Autoroute) Again

November 13, 2018 by Randy
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    Autoroutes are one of the things that work well in France. (See “La Vie en France #28:  What Works in France.”)  However, they are absolutely terrifying to most first-time drivers–largely because of the toll booths.  This post will extol the virtues of the French autoroutes; provide a few basic rules; and explain the toll system.     The Virtues of France’s Autoroute System There are virtually no potholes.  The Webmaster believes that there are several reasons for this:  First, construction starts with a Continue reading →

Travel Tips: Walking in Their Footsteps Should Mean More Than a Cemetery Stop or a Day Trip From Paris

November 13, 2018 by Randy
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Griffin Group Photo AM322.  Cross-Roads at Le Chene Tondu.  The Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof is just to the left of this photo.  Most American tourists know only this part of the plateau; but there is a German Camp (the Borrieswaldlager), a German concrete signal bunker (aka Blinkstelle) and a 100+ year-old tree within a few hundred meters?  Also, one can see the foxholes in which the German two battalions of Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 125 held off the 111th and 112th Infantry Regiments, 28th Division for more than a Continue reading →

News & Events–Over There: The Allied Terms of the Armistice

November 11, 2018 by Randy
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    As the Centennial of the Armistice approaches, it is fitting to spend a little time reviewing and understanding the thirty-five terms of the Armistice.  After millions of deaths and the destruction of hundreds of miles of French and Belgian territory, Marshall Foch and other Allied leaders dictated the terms with no room for German negotiation.  The German representatives received the terms on 8 November and reluctantly signed the terms at 05h00 on 11 November.  The Armistice went into effect at 11h00 on 11 Continue reading →

La Vie en France #37: The Beauty and the Sorrow of the Armistice Centennial

November 9, 2018 by Randy
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As 11 November 2018–the Centennial of the Armistice–approaches, I find myself having very mixed feelings.  One hundred years ago the combined economic and military might of the Allied powers finally put an end to more than fours years of fighting an industrialized war–the likes of which had never been experienced before.  Certainly, for those soldiers that day was a wonderful day–once they got used to the deafening silence.  This “beauty” of the Armistice is reflected in these carefully staged photos of 5th Division soldiers near Continue reading →

La Vie en France #36: Telling the AEF Meuse-Argonne Story

November 9, 2018 by Randy
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    On a recon trip before the Western Front Association USA Branch 2007 tour I penned the following forward:   25 February, 2007 Hotel du Commerce, Aubreville It’s 23h30 and I cannot fall asleep.  The countless sites, roads, experiences of the past two days run through my mind. This area of France has been calling me since my first visits in the early 1990s, yet how do I tell the story of American participation in 1918? I reenact, but I’ve never experienced the terror Continue reading →

La Vie en France #35: Laundry Day–When You’ve run out of Clean Clothes

November 5, 2018 by Randy
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    So what does one do when one runs out of clean clothes on a vacation to the battlefields?  The answer can vary widely.  There is the “old wash socks and underwear in the sink trick.”  They can then air dry in the hotel room, using the radiator on cooler days.  If one is staying in a small hotel or B&B, one can ask the host / hostess politely if they could do a load.  Of course, one should pay them for their efforts!  Continue reading →

La Vie en France #34: Boureuilles: Jump-off Line for the 28th and 35th Divisions

November 5, 2018 by Randy
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  What a difference a year makes!  Last year, the Webmaster rented a gite in “The Punchbowl” of Doulcon for six months.  Doulcon was liberated by the 5th Division on 3 November, 1918–quite late in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  This year the Webmaster is renting the “Gite les Rosiers” in Boureuilles.  This gite is basically on the 28th and 35th Division jump-off line of 26 September–just a few kilometers south of Varennes-en-Argonne.  Said another way, the front-line of 26 Sept. ran east-west from Vauquois Hill (about Continue reading →

Then and Now: Montfaucon d’Argonne 1918-19 Versus Today

October 29, 2018 by Randy
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    Few sites on the Meuse-Argonne American battlefield are as heavily visited as Montfaucon d’Argonne; and yet it remains difficult to “see” the town as it looked at the end of the war.  Moving from a destroyed village to a preserved memorial park that can be visited safely by thousands annually requires considerable clean-up and sanitization.  Thus, one sees the Memorial, the (enhanced) church ruins and a scattering of observation pillboxes, along with some good signage; but one does not see the ruined town Continue reading →

People of the Meuse-Argonne: John Cleaveland

October 19, 2018 by Randy
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      Even today French locals, other Europeans and Americans find themselves drawn to the Meuse-Argonne region of France.  Once drawn there, many return time and again; often working on multi-year research or preservation projects.  In this irregular series, the Webmaster hopes to introduce readers to some of these individuals and their labors of love. John Cleaveland is a photorealism artist whose paintings have drawn a lot of attention in the Meuse-Argonne.com Facebook Group.  From 11 Sept. to 9 Nov. 2018 his series of Continue reading →