Cemeteries and Whatnot

So it has been over a MONTH since I've posted on here!  That's what six straight weeks of company will do to ya.  We had Ben's sister and her family come stay with us, and then just a few days after they left my prego sista and her hubby came to visit.  That's the thing with living far from home… it's like feast or famine with family. It has been a lot of fun though and I'm grateful that they would make the effort to come see us.      

I have lots of catching up to do, but I would feel remiss if I didn't post about our road trip to Paris and the WWI sites we saw along the way.  

The drive from Stuttgart to Paris goes through many of the WWI battle sites including Verdun,  Belleauwood, and the Marne.

This year marked the 70th anniversary of the D-day invasion and naturally there was a lot of hype and attention focused on this milestone anniversary. Heads of state including the Queen of England and Barack Obama gathered at the Normandy American Cemetery to pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. 

 Obviously, this was a wonderful event to commemorate, since D-day changed the course of history, but sometimes I wonder if the other cemeteries don't get the shaft a little bit.  Normandy is the most famous American cemetery overseas, but did you know that there are TWENTY American cemeteries in Europe, and ELEVEN of those are in France?  And SEVEN of those eleven are WWI cemeteries, the biggest being the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery that has over 14,000 interred, the largest in Europe, compared to Normandy which has over 9,000.  (By the way, I'm getting all this info from www.abmc.gov in case you are wondering.)  I've been to Normandy twice and it is an experience not to be forgotten… hallowed ground… but aren't the others just as deserving of our attention?  We visited the St. Mihiel cemetery on the way to Paris and Aisne-Marne Cemetery (better known as Belleauwood) on the way back and in both cases we were the ONLY ones there.  

Road trippin' it with the trusty atlas.  Ben's favorite accessory

The countryside scenery did not disappoint

We kind of got lost trying to find the St. Mihiel Cemetery… but along the way in these TINY little towns we found random monuments and statues dedicated to the memory of those that lost their lives in WWI. 

 

"To Our Dead"

Pulling over at a picturesque church to ask for directions:

And finally we found St. Mihiel Cemetery. 

The American Battle Monuments Commission (abmc) does such a great job of taking care of the grounds.  It's so peaceful and lovely there.

We also stopped at Ft. Douamont, a key fortification in the Battle of Verdun taken over by the Germans without having to fire a single shot.  (Let's hear it for the French!)  But they were eventually able to take it back with the talented leadership of General Foch.

Some of the craters are still there from the shelling that took place

A communications trench still intact

And on the way home from Paris, we stopped at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery just outside Paris, better known as Belleauwood.  This cemetery was truly BEAUTIFUL and I wished so badly that it wasn't pouring rain!  Just behind the cemetery is the actual battlefield where the fighting took place and you can actually hike through the trenches that are still intact!  I was so disappointed we couldn't do the hike due to the rain, maybe we'll return some day???  It was simply beautiful there.  

So after visiting these beautiful cemeteries I'm considering a future employment with the American Battle Monuments Commission… the people that get to work at these cemeteries.  What an awesome job, don't you think?  Or am I nuts?  I would totally work at the Belleauwood Cemetery.  It was so beautiful there.