ODDS AND ENDS AFTER OUR AEF WORLD WAR I CENTENNIAL TOUR IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM

Erie, Pennsylvania

Sunday, 26 August 2018

This entry will sum up some things about our wonderful August 2018 trip to France and Belgium, although I reserve the right to add!

Most importantly, we wanted to honor our World War I family members, all World War I service members, as well as service members and veterans of our America, those men and women who have served our country valiantly, whether in combat, supporting our troops in combat, or to protect our country’s liberty and freedom.

Another goal was to actually visit sites where my family members were—Uncle Roy Hall of the 28^th Division at Fismes, Cousin Lynn C. Price of the 80^th in the Meuse Argonne, and Archie Harvey of the 90^th Division near the Meuse / Bois de Chenois in the last few days of combat.

Since I hope to write about my great uncle, Archie Harvey, I wanted to know more about his experience. I am truly indebted to Mike Hanlon, Valor Tours, and our tour mates who shared their own family stories, further enriching the experience.

It became very important to us to honor other veterans who we have learned about in the last few years, including William Hendershott and Arthur Manness, the Silverthorn brothers, and Frank Arnold.

Other insights, not in any particular order

The tour was intense—from bus boarding at 7:30 or 8 a.m. to returning to the hotel between 6 and 7 p.m., we took advantage of every minute.

Mike Hanlon

Mike is truly a treasure and I hope that World War I readers visit his fabulous website, http://worldwar1.com/

Even though he is retiring as a tour guide, he will continue to share his vast knowledge of World War I through this website.

Valor Tours

This was our second tour with Valor Tours-some of our tour mates had experienced over 40 Valor Tours. The company is described as America’s oldest and most experienced military tour operator. We would use Valor Tours again, and I highly recommend them. https://www.valortours.com/

Clothing

I am glad that I packed light. We were not attending a fashion show and no one had any expectations about how we looked (as far as I know).

Tim admired two brothers on the tour who have traveled extensively on history tours with only a back pack—they said they washed their clothes on the trip.

Shoes

For long distance walking I wear only open toed shoes. My Ecco sandals (with backstrap—no flip flops) served me well in 2015. Since I knew I could walk miles in this particular pair, I had them resoled at my favorite shoe repair shop in Erie. I did not care about mud and rain with these shoes, and we walked miles and miles every day. I know that because I wore my Fitbit every day.

Cell Phone

Having our cell phone service ported to France for a reasonable rate was very valuable. This is the first time that we were able to do that. Having Trip Advisor, Google, maps, and email access was important. Despite being a little older, we value the tools of technology.

Laptop

I was glad that I had my Dell 13 inch laptop with me—I knew that I wanted to write and so I invested in this laptop in May so that I could get it attuned to me by August. Again, I like my technology tools. Doing the blog this year was an ambitious endeavor, either because I am older or because I was more thoughtful. Toward the end of the tour it was almost overwhelming, and I knew I needed to stay in the moment. I hope that readers realized that I would go back and improve some of the blogs.

DSLR camera

There was no way that I would take a trip like this without my good camera. I used the cell phone as a backup, but I wanted high quality photos. Alas, I need a different photographer for that—holding the camera straight is an example of just one of my short comings. I do love this camera (Canon Rebel T7i) but I still need some work. I wish I had taken more video—I feared running out of SD cards, but I barely scratched the surface (64 gig SD card) even with taking hundreds of photos each day. 

Tim took great photos with his cell phone, too.

Currency/ATM/Charge Cards

I did take 100 euros with me, but easy access to ATMs with my bank ATM card for cash was important. Fortunately, the ATM prompts are relatively easy to navigate. There is an English option. I will always have at least some money native to the country we are traveling in just in case I have an emergency need. Tim prefers to use the ATM for all of his cash.

We did use charge cards efficiently too and the ones we have do not charge a surcharge on foreign transactions.  Be sure to notify all charge card companies and banks of travel plans—no matter what they might say.

Food

I like basic food and sometimes that is difficult. I lost 3.5 pounds on this trip, probably a combination of food availability and all the walking. When I lived in France, I followed the rule that if a dish was offered, I had to eat it. Now I cannot do that. Fortunately, Tim can eat most anything, so he was OK.

Remember to travel with an open mind

Since I lived in France for a year (although that was fifty years ago), I can easily adapt to French culture—I truly hope that travelers can keep an open mind about different cultures in different countries. I love the language, the art, the history. The French (and Belgians) were very friendly and helpful everywhere we went. Even though we were in some small villages, we were accepted warmly. I think about that French painter in a very small village who jumped in his truck to go get the mayor who then drove up in a road grader. Think about that! And we were in the wrong village!

Hydration

Knowing that bathrooms were going to be few and far between so to speak, I did not want to drink as much water or soda as I should have. I do not know how to solve this problem.   Since I need to take a water pill daily, I chose to take it at night, but swollen legs during the day was the result. I probably should not make a habit of that. Tim really drinks a lot of water, but he cut back too. Soda is sold only in bottles, no fountain drinks. A few times we paid 5 euros/per bottle of Coke Zero. Bottled water was usually one euro. At the grocery store bottled water was .18 euro, about 20 cents.  That leads me to….

Ice

You can get ice in the restaurants, but hotels do not have ice machines or refrigerators in the hotel room. In two hotels we asked for ice at the bar for our room and they did accommodate us.

What I forgot to pack

Alarm clock—every hotel had a wake up call system, but Tim remembered his, so that was not a problem

Wash cloths—for some reason French and Belgium hotels do not provide wash cloths. Some day I will do research on how they wash their faces. Of course, Tim remembered to bring some. I bought some micro fiber cloths and used them. They dried quickly so that was a plus.

What I lost

I took my favorite everyday sunglasses, but never wore them—there was too much I wanted to see clearly! But, I took the glasses case out of my suitcase one night and the black case blended in with the carpet and they stayed in Verdun. This was not a loss that I mourned because they were about 5 years old and a little scratched. I can replace them.

Weather

We were really lucky with the weather—it only rained one day, and then not for the whole day. Some days were especially hot, but the humidity was much lower than in Erie and certainly the southern U.S. states, so it was tolerable.

Coffee

Again, being flexible is a necessity. I drink coffee black, and coffee is VERY strong in France, even so called “American Coffee.” Tim started ordering a sort of latte.

Some hotels have coffee machines that are challenging to use. That is a learning curve, but if you really need coffee, you do figure it out!

WestJet Airlines

I hope we can always afford the upgraded seats with the middle seat made into a table configuration. We had a lot more room, no one in the middle, and we were constantly given food and snacks and beverages. If we drank alcohol, that would have been included too. Toronto is only a 3.5 hour drive from Erie and even though we were on a 737, we had a comfortable flight.

Tim

Tim is a great traveling companion because he pays attention to the things that I do not, like where the exits are in a hotel or restaurant in case of fire. Plus, he notices things I don’t and points them out to me. World War I is not exactly his specialty, but he is engaged and listens and observes and even asks questions. He is a U.S. Navy veteran who sailed the Mediterranean in a heavy cruiser in the late 60s, early 70s, so he also knows the culture is different and he can adapt.

I know everyone loves his “takes” and observations, but he was asleep by the time I was writing this year. He did what he could.