To Paris and Southampton

Touring the French countryside and visiting the various Great War memorials could make a very enjoyable vacation by itself.  Having a good GPS is essential; it serves as our tour guide.  The British approach was to bury their dead where they fell; thus, small British cemeteries are scattered throughout the region. (French forces manned the front further south.)  Other countries tended to gather their dead into larger consecrated sites.  Germany brought their dead back to the home country.  Commonly, a battlefield and museum are included with reflections on the period, home country and other events.  Studying WWI in this region is essentially a scavenger hunt of sites in the beautiful countryside.

The memorial at Belleau Woods, hallowed in the annals of the US Marine Corps.

The memorial is actually quite large with surrounding woods.

Our last day in France, we stopped at Chateau Thierry on our way back to Paris.  It is the location of a battlefield, cemetery, and memorial famous to the US Marines of Belleau Woods.  Unfortunately, we are short on time.  By the time we located the memorial, we needed to move on to Paris.  Tonight we sleep in Southampton, England.