Where France and Germany Meet 7: October 2012 Road Scholar

7. Battle of Verdun and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive

This posting features photos taken on our last afternoon and evening on the Ste Odîle, and on our coach trip on October 9 from Saarbrücken through France to Paris. The central theme is World War I battle sites, but ironically this collection also includes photos from our final gala dinner held onboard the ship.

On the afternoon of October 8, we prepared for our October 9 coach tour with an onboard lecture/discussion on two battles in World War I. The Battle of Verdun was fought between the armies of France and Germany from February to December 1916. It was the longest and one of the most devastating battles in the First World War with casualties numbering between 700,000 and 976,000. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was fought from September to November 1918 between the allied forces of France and the United States on one side and Germany on the other. This battle was part of the larger "grand offensive" which resulted in the Armistice of November 11, 1918.

On the morning of October 9, we visited the Douaumont Ossuary which is a memorial to the soldiers of the Battle of Verdun and is located within the battlefield. At lunchtime, we ate in a small village at the Hotel Belleville. In the afternoon, we visited the American Meuse-Argonne Cemetery and Memorial.

In the Ste Odîle dining room, our seminar group has pencils ready to learn about the two World War I battles.

Peter explains the Allied offensive of 1918 through the Argonne Forest - the area where we will travel on the next day.

Lou is settling down for a discussion.

Gerry is ready to make a strong point in the discussion.

Later that evening, we enjoyed a gala dinner starting with duck foie gras, caramel with calvados and brioche roll.

Liberal quantities of red and white wine for our last dinner onboard

The Douaumont Ossuary contains the remains of both French and German soldiers, killed in the Battle of Verdun 1916.

Towns represented in the battle were named in plaques over the window openings.

There were no Canadian regiments in this battle (they were farther north). But I was interested to see the Ottawa plaque.

We travelled to the Hotel Bellevue in a small village for lunch. This staircase across the street made for a good photograph..

Tanemi, Allan, Sally, and Cathy are ready to eat.

Lou, Elaine, Glory, and Susan are waiting patiently for the photographers to finish.

Frank, DeAnne, Jack, Gerry, and Helen are ready to eat.

Peter, Sandi, and Peg smile for the camera.

The hotel has an interesting staircase.

The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial is breath-taking.

Headstones are either the Star of David or a Latin cross. Headstones of Medal of Honour recipients are inscribed in gold.

The placement of the headstones made the experience very dramatic.

I was quite taken by the headstone of the Private from Ohio who was killed one day before the Armistice.

I think the Memorial is appropriately classic and stark.

The map shows the advance/retreat of the battle in the fall of 1918.

The Memorial Loggia (east and west) show the names of 954 missing soldiers.