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Day 1: Upon arrival in Paris, you will be picked up at the airport and brought to the Hotel Mercure in Caen. There will be an introduction to the tour. Dinner at the hotel will follow.
Day 2: The day will start with a visit to the town of Carentan and its Dead Man’s Corner Museum. After lunch in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, we pass by Brecourt Manor, site of Easy Company’s famous assault on German artillery, followed by a tour of Utah Beach and its museum. Dinner will be at the Hotel Mercure in Caen, where we will again spend the night.
Day 3: Our second full day in Normandy will begin with a trip to the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. After lunch in the coastal town of Arromanches-les-Bains, we visit the German battery in Longues-sur-Mer. We then tour the Kieffer Commando museum in Ouistreham, which commemorates the French contribution to the D-Day invasion. Dinner will be at the Taverne de Maître Kanter with decorated French veterans and liberated civilians. After dinner, the group will return to the Hotel Mercure in Caen.
Day 4: After breakfast in Normandy, the coach will travel to the Netherlands to the city of Nijmegen. The Band of Brothers video will play on the bus, along with videos of the people to meet in Holland who have personal stories to tell about life under Nazi occupation and the famous battles to liberate the country. The group will spend the night at the Golden Tulip Valmonte hotel in Berg en Dal.
Day 5: The fifth day of our tour explores the bold attempt by the Allies to end the war quickly through Operation Market Garden. The morning features a brief drive along the famous dykes that figured in so many battles for control of the region. We are then given a tour of the Liberation Museum by people who lived under the Nazi occupation and witnessed the battles that led to the country’s liberation. In the evening we depart for Belgium’s Ardennes Forest. We will spend the night in the town of Bastogne at the Melba Hotel.
Day 6: In the morning we travel to the neighboring country of Luxembourg to take in the remarkable collection and displays of the National Military History Museum. We then travel south to Hamm, Luxemburg for a visit to the American cemetery, the final resting place of many Easy Company soldiers as well as General George S. Patton. We meet WWII witnesses for dinner in Bastogne.
Day 7: The day’s activities take place in Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne defended the besieged town during the Battle of the Bulge. We visit the Bastogne Historical Center and the Mardasson monument, which pays tribute to the Allied resolve during this critical period. A bus tour of the area is highlighted by a visit to the Bois Jacques to view Easy Company’s actual foxholes. We travel back to Paris and sleep our last night there.
Day 8: After saying goodbye, our guests will be brought by bus to the Paris airport for their return flights. |
