An Itinerary for Husband and Wife in France

Left to themselves, readers interested in military history might develop vacation itineraries exciting only to themselves. Thankfully, it does not have to be that way. Plans can combine opportunities to visit key military history sites and enjoy contemporary travel attractions, offering something for the husband (or wife) 'historian' and, at the same time, experiences attractive to those not so interested in military history. How else can a happy marriage and mutually interesting travel exist 'side by side'?

For example, an excellent 'combined' roadtrip itinerary is one which sweeps from west to east across France, combining key sites in World War II history and wonderful experiences in the natural beauty, architecture, cuisine, wine, and people of modern France. Starting in the extreme northwest of France, Dunkirk is only 10 miles from the Belgium border and 36 miles across the English Channel from Dover. In May 1940, France was on the verge of falling in less than a month to the onslaught of the German Army and the British Expeditionary Force had been driven back to the beaches around Dunkirk. In a feat of great bravery and skill on the part of British sailors, airmen, soldiers, and civilians in a mass of small boats, 340,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated from the Nazi vise, escaping death or capture. These soldiers left their heavy equipment ashore but they lived to fight another day and their viability as a fighting force prevented the Germans from crossing the channel to invade Great Britain. Britain would survive to resist Nazi Germany and ultimately serve as the jumping off point for the 'Great Crusade' to liberate Europe.

Visitors to Dunkirk will want to enjoy the antique ceramics and art of the Dutch and Flemish 'painting schools' in the Musee des Beaux-Arts just off the city's main square and the nearby tour du menteur (liar's tower) so named because of its history of sentries' false alarms. The city's Notre Dame-des-Dunes chapel was rebuilt in the 19th Century while Grand-Fort-Phillippe and Petit-Fort-Phillippe are fishing villages and seaside resorts named for Spain's King Phillippe II only one and one half miles northwest of Dunkirk.

Dieppe is a port city 100 miles south of Dunkirk and 36 miles north of Rouen - site of the burning at the stake of Joan of Arc in 1431! - which was home to its own military history in August 1942. Losing around the world to the Germans and Japanese in the dark days of that year, the Allies decided to demonstrate they could strike back, testing rudimentary amphibious operations techniques and equipment. An Allied force composed of 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 British and 50 American Rangers attacked from the sea to seize Dieppe's port, city center, and surrounding beaches. Unfortunately, German forces rallied quickly and, after brutal fighting which destroyed much of the city, captured or killed most of the force with less than 2,000 escaping back to their boats. The raiders paid a heavy price to identify tactical weaknesses and it would be almost two years before Allied forces would again challenge Hitler's 'Atlantic Wall'.

Dieppe has been an important port since the Middle Ages and is usually filled with British visitors shopping in its stores and supermarkets. The chateau overlooking the harbor was partially built in the 15th Century and has a small museum of the city's maritime history. The Parc des Moutiers resembles a British private park and the beautiful cemetery for the Allied soldiers killed in the 1942 raid is just outside town. A small memorial to the Americans who died in the raid is located along city's beachside promenade.

The coastline of France's Pas de Calais region is the area closest to the British ports from which the world expected the long planned invasion of Hitler's Europe would stage and German commanders had positioned their forces expecting an attack there. Instead, Operation OVERLORD, the largest amphibious assault in history, was launched on 'D-Day', June 6 1944, onto the European continent on the shores of Normandy, 160 miles southwest from the tragic raid against Dieppe in 1942. Visitors can walk the British and Canadian assault beaches of Gold, Juno, and Sword and the American beaches of Utah and Omaha where thousands of Allied young men died on the first day. The beautiful and gripping American cemetery in the initial scene of 'Saving Private Ryan' and a German cemetery are located in Coleville sur Mer overlooking Omaha Beach and the remains of a 'Mulberry Harbor' artificial port still lie offshore at Arromanches. St. Mere Eglise is home to a museum honoring the brave airborne troops who dropped from the night skies early on D-Day and British operations in Normandy are remembered in an impressive museum in Caen. A visit to the Normandy beaches is a must for historians! Chateaux and churches from the middle ages and wonderful little inns are spread throughout Normandy, an area which suffered so greatly from centuries of French and English competition for the land. A break from traveling should include some of the fantastic calvados, the local apple brandy!

The Allies had hundreds of thousands of men and millions of tons of equipment and supplies ashore in Normandy by late July 1944 but they were still confined to a small area. On July 10, Operation COBRA was launched, a massive assault in the direction of St. Lo to break from the beachhead and to begin spearheads toward Brittany and Paris. After 4,000 tons of bombs were dropped in and around St. Lo to breach the German defenses, the race for Paris began. St. Lo was heavily destroyed but was rebuilt after 1944 with the ancient ramparts' remains still enclosing it, but the destroyed Notre Dame cathedral stands today as a permanent but silent witness to the horror of modern war.

Oradour-sur-Glane is a village 420 miles south-southeast of St. Lo and 10 miles northwest of the famous porcelain town of Limoges. The village is little known except in France but, on 10 June 1944, the 'Das Reich' division, a SS ('stormtroopers') unit, was marching northward to meet the Allied forces' landing in Normandy. For reasons which are still unclear today, approximately 180 soldiers of this unit spent several hours rounding up the men, women, and children of this village and then killed them with machine guns and grenades or burned them alive in the village church. They murdered 642 innocent civilians and, again, a burned out church stands in witness to the inhumanity and insanity associated with war. The church is now a museum and is open year round and the village's buildings were left as they were in 1944. The commander of the German killers was killed in combat several days later in Normandy so he escaped true justice but many of the soldiers who committed this atrocity were tried by the German government in 1953. Limoges is home to one of the premier chinaware styles in the world but shoppers will find it is very expensive! Even the 'seconds' shop was terribly expensive!

After the fall of France in 1940, the Germans occupied and administered the northern part of the country, across the Channel from Great Britain. A French government friendly to the Germans was allowed to administer the southern part of France from Vichy, 135 miles east of Limoges and in the heart of the Province Boubonnais. Marshal Petain, a hero of France in WWI and the leader of this 'Vichy government', will be forever remembered as a 'collaborationist'. Even this semblance of autonomy was ended in November 1942, however, when American and British forces landed in North Africa and the Germans occupied the whole of France.

Today, Vichy is a city of 75,000 known for its horse racing track, a world class spa resort, and as the training site for many French Olympics teams. Nearby Clermont has a wonderful pedestrian street - the rue des causeries - which leads past very old homes, many from the 16th Century, to the cathedral built from the 13th-14th Century. Clermont is home to several museums and the St. Pierre Market through which a stroll is perfect. The truly marvelous Lyon is just 70 miles east of Clermont and one of Rome's ancient outposts, a trading and religious center for two thousand years, and now one of France's grand cities with its museums, churches architecture, and old homes. Dijon, 100 miles north of Lyon, is another of France's grand cities, former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy. The Palais de Justice was the former Parliament of Burgundy and its Fine Arts Museum is considered one of the finest in France. The Church of Notre Dame was begun early in the 13th Century and has a very unique bell tower.

The southeastern boundary of Alsace is only 150 miles from Lyon and 40 miles from Dijon. Germany annexed this portion of France along the Rhine River after Paris fell in 1940 and drafted 130,000 young Alsatians into its armed forces with 40,000 of those dying in the war. By late November 1944, French and American troops had cleared most German forces from this easternmost French territory and it seemed the whole of Alsace would be cleared in a matter of days. The war's focus soon shifted northward, however, when the Germans mounted their 'Battle of the Bulge' and the Allies were not able to eliminate German resistance in the 'Colmar Pocket until February 2, 1945, at the cost of 8,000 American and 16,000 French casualties. This fight was the last on French soil in the war. Today Colmar is a beautiful city of half-timbered homes with the legacy of its being French and German in its past. The city is only 45 miles from Basel, Switzerland and 20 miles from the German university city of Freiburg. Visitors will enjoy that Colmar is also considered the center of the Alsatian wine country, almost exclusively dry white wines. Lots of aromatic fruit brandies, too!

Another exceptional city, Strasbourg, is located only 40 miles north of Colmar, directly on the Rhine River and border with Germany. The Cathedral of Notre Dame was begun in the 11th Century and underwent a comprehensive renovation a decade ago. Several wonderful museums are within a few blocks of the cathedral, usually along streets lined with 16th Century homes. Strasbourg is home to the political organ of the European Union, the European Parliament. Very colorful Alsatian pottery is made and sold in Soufflenheim, about 25 miles north of Strasbourg, and visitors will not want to experience Alsace without a few pieces to take home.

An American military cemetery is located 150 miles north of Colmar and 115 miles northwest of Strasbourg, on the eastside of Luxemboury City. Many of the 5076 heroes buried here served in Gen. George Patton's Third U.S. Army which helped fight back the savage German counteroffensive in the 'Battle of the Bulge' and GEN Patton is buried prominently among his soldiers. Luxembourg City is 3 miles to the west and home to the Grand Ducal Palace built in the Spanish Renaissance style from 1572-1574 and the Notre Dame cathedral built from 1613-1621. The city is only 25 miles from the ancient Roman outpost in Trier, Germany and the beginning of the Moselle River's vineyards and vintners.

The site where WWII ended in Europe is 100 miles southwest of Luxembourg City - Reims. On May 8, 1945, German officers representing the German government surrendered unconditionally to Gen. Eisenhower's headquarters in a small schoolhouse in Reims. Visitors may enter the room where the surrender occurred and still see the room the way it was on that day, maps on the walls and desks and chairs filled with the equipment and paper of a military headquarters commanding millions of troops. Reims' cathedral in the center of town even retains the very visible bullet holes of WWI and WWII. The city is in the center of the French champagne region and home to several vintners' caves filled with millions of champagne bottles. Tours and tasting are available!

From one of WWII's first major battles, the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, to the end of the war in Reims in 1945. From the extreme northwest of France on the border of Belgium to the extreme southeast on the border of Switzerland. Along the coast through the vineyards to the mountains. A great itinerary for World War II history and for enjoying France today. An itinerary a husband and wife could enjoy!