Leaving Germany... traveling through Lorraine... entering Paris!

Bonjour, Mes Amies!

Today was a full day of travel.  Leaving the hotel in Kaiserslautern this morning, we headed for our time at the American Cemetery in Lorraine.  Interesting side note: in Lorraine, we also had to change buses because German buses do not go to France and French buses do not come to Germany.  Hmmm.  Wonder why?  Anyway, Germany was nice, but we were all very excited to be moving on to France.  Unfortunately, the pictures are taking way too long to load on the connection we have here at the "lovely" Hotel Ibis so pictures will be added to this post after I figure out a way around this little blip.

The cemetery at Lorraine was breathtaking.  Staring across the many graves there, one couldn’t help but think about the sacrifice these men and women made in the name of freedom.  Before we sang, the Assistant Superintendent, Bruce Malone, spoke of the cemetery’s history and purpose.  Mr. Malone was very knowledgeable about military history, and was a wonderful speaker.  He told us that the cemetery is the final resting place for 10,489 men and women who were killed during World War II.  We learned that over 25,800 soldiers had been buried in four temporary cemeteries located in different areas in France.  In 1947, those buried were disinterred and prepared to be sent back to their families in the U.S.  The loved ones were asked if they wanted the bodies shipped home for burial in the States or if they would like them memorialized in the American Cemetery there at Lorraine. Forty percent remained in France.

There are 151 unknown soldiers buried at Lorraine.  The interred include people from all walks of life, soldiers from every state in the U.S., soldiers from other countries who were serving with the U.S., and civilians who served with the U.S. in some official capacity.  Mr. Malone told us some of the stories of the people laid to rest at Lorraine, and he read the final letter from a man who was about 22 years old who had written to his father to tell him the types of everyday things he was looking forward to doing when he returned home.  The letter was penned just 18 days prior to his death and moved many of us to tears.  We followed that with a shortened performance of some of our more somber selections.  We had a little sprinkle of rain while we were singing, but overall, the time we spent at Lorraine was a beautiful and meaningful start to our time in France.

Once we finished, we loaded our different buses and headed for Paris.  The drive was a little over five hours long which put us arriving in Paris during a busy traffic time.  We have seen the Eiffel Tower from a distance, we have checked into the hotel room (which is about one third of the size of a hotel room in the U.S.), and we have had a wonderful dinner.  It is time for bed.

Tomorrow we head to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

Au revoir!