HEUREUX MARIAGE AND COUNTING

Hotel St. Paul
Verdun, France
August 18, 2015

Tonight we all took a break from World War I for dinner celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary, complete with a French greeting card from our wonderful companions, and rich chocolate at La Cloche D'Or at 7 p.m. Our new friends are from California, Alaska, North Carolina, the Netherlands, and Paris and Alaska. Four of us have family members who served in World War I. Mike Hanlon is making this tour an extraordinary experience by showing each of us the sites our family served at.

As I write, it is almost 11:30 p.m. and I will be brief as tomorrow is the day we study the 90th Division, Archie's division, and I want to study his letters again.

A few facts I have not mentioned before. There are 8 of us on the tour, Mike Hanlon is our guide, and Peter is driving our 49 passenger bus. The bus is a real plus because we have plenty of room and there is a restroom aboard. Peter supplies us with cold water and soda. Some days we have a boxed lunch from the hotel and other days we stop at the super marche for a sandwich.

[Note to DDIL Denise: There are Aldi's in France!!!]

We leave our hotel at 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. depending on the day's itinerary. We have lunch about 1 p.m. and return to the hotel between 5:15 and 6 p.m. We have been meeting for dinner at 6:30 or 7 p.m. Since the French dine leisurely we are  not usually finished until 10 p.m. or so. Quite a pace!!

Today's photos--

At the Hotel de Ville in Verdun we met Michel Blanchet, Chef de Protocol. We had an exquisite visit and saw the Verdun Livres D'Or, Books of Gold, and the special one that lists all American soldiers who were involved in the Verdun engagement, whether they were killed or not. Friend Kathy's grandfather was listed in the book-he was a survivor. M. Blanchet presented Kathy with a clay vial of sacred soil from the battlefield. We were all honored to be there with her.

This image is a detail from the altar at the Catholic Church of St. Gerard in Marbotte. The church, built in the 1790s, was used as a first aid station/hospital during World War I.


Near Seicheprey today we stopped at a site to learn about Larry's father who was in the 1st Division, 18th Infantry, 3rd Battalion, Co. M His unit was gassed twice. The first time 7 tons of phosgene gas was used by the Germans against them--8 men died, 77 treated. At Cantigny (sp?) the 1st Division was gassed again and 700 were treated.  His father almost never talked about the war. The First Division was Pershing's showpiece division.