 |
To contact us, call 866.844.7167 (Toll Free in U.S.) or email sue@aparistravel.com |
Private World War I Tour
Read about our two tour suggestions for this area:
Tour to Verdun and Somme
To
adequately appreciate the scope and significance of the World War I battle
sites, we would recommend a 2-3 day tour. Here is a suggested itinerary we
can arrange and we invite you to
contact us for
booking the guide.
You would depart Paris with our driver/guide and head to Verdun and the touring would include visits to the battlefields. On the Right Bank of the Meuse River, there is Fort Vaux, Ossuaire de Douaumont, and Fort de Douaumont (pictured on the left with recent clients). It is there that one can see the corroded tops of "pillboxes." Another place of interest is the Trench of Bayonets where bayonets of French soldiers, entombed by a shell, burst from this unique memorial.
Near the Trench is the Memorial de Verdun, a museum that commemorates the weapons, uniforms, photographs, and geography of one of the bloodiest battles of WWI.
On the Left Bank of the Meuse River, the tour would include the Butte de Montfaucon, a hill on which Americans erected a memorial tower, and the American Cemetery at Romagne, with 14,246 graves, the largest number of American dead in Europe. Most of those who are buried here were killed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I.
A second day of World War I touring would include a drive north to the Somme area. In Péronne, an important place of interest is the Historial de la Grande Guerre. This remarkable place could take days to absorb and should not be missed.
In the town of Fay, French colonial troops took the village on the first day of the Somme offensive. Fay was totally destroyed by mine warfare and was not rebuilt on the original site. However, today it's possible to take a walking tour as there are still traces of churches and private homes where foundations have been preserved.
Albert, a town which experienced heavy bombardment, has a Basilica which was a landmark for the troops. Other interesting stops are the Thiepval Memorial, Lochnagar Mine Crater, The British Tank Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel Memorial Park, La Boisselle, and Pozières. Contact us to help you visit these places and experience a memorable tour.
These are pictures of the tour guide's Grandfather taken in 1914 while in the trenches of Verdun.
Tour to Vimy Ridge, Normandy, and Mt. Saint Michel
Day 1 - Depart Paris to Vimy (visit of the little museum and visit a trench with a Canadian guide). Then you'll go to the Memorial and the 2 cemeteries. Drive to Normandy for a night.
Day 2 - Visit of the Canadian cemetery close to Juno Beach. The Juno Center Museum is very special. Arromanches will the next stop with the artificial harbor. You'll visit the museum there and drive to the Batterie de Longue. In Bayeux, you can visit the Bayeux tapestry and overnight in Normandy.
Day 3 - Drive to Mont St Michel to visit the abbey before returning to Paris.
Contact us for more information and availability for this most special experience.
"There never was a good war or bad peace."
- Benjamin Franklin