DIY: WWI Road Trip Across France and Belgium

Admittedly, I didn’t know as much as I should about WWI, but the 100thAnniversary of the Armistice in Compiegne, the release of Peter Jackson’s 2018 documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old”, and the release of Sam Mendes’s 2019 movie “1917”, I was eager to know more.  

Where to begin?

I started my journey on Veterans Day / Armistice Day 2018 and visited one of nine WWI American Battlefield Commission (ABMC) cemeteries in Europe.  The St. Mihiel American Cemetery.  I spoke with the superintendent of the cemetery to learn more. He was wealth of knowledge and after our conversation he gave me a copy of the WWI Battlefield Companion.  This handbook provided the framework for a WWI Road Trip.  Admittedly, this creates a very American centric view of WWI, but the sites around Verdun and Ypres tell stories of many nations with French, North African, German, British, Canadian, Australian, ANZAC, and Belgian perspectives.

https://www.abmc.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ABMC_WWI%20Battlefield%20Companion%20Book_20180904.pdf.  

As I read through the Battlefield Companion and surveyed a map of France and Belgium 4 cities stood out as places to use as a base of operations: Verdun, Reims, Paris, and Ypres. These cities are 1-3 hours apart and you can easily explore segments of the WWI frontlines from them.  I broke my trip up into a series of long weekends from Germany, but International Airports like Frankfurt and Brussels could serve as start and end-points or Paris could serve as a hub for an eastward spoke and a northward spoke.  You can vary the lengths of your stay in each of these cities to cover the sites (both WWI and others) that interest you.

You can explore the St. Mihiel Salient during the drive from Frankfurt to Verdun (3 hour drive) or visit it from Verdun.  The self-guided six-stop tour from the Battlefield Companion includes approximately 2 ? hours of driving between locations.  In addition to the guidebook, I learned that American Superintendents of these cemeteries evacuated at the onset of WWII, but French caretakers continued upkeep of the cemeteries throughout WWII.  There was an isolated instance of vandalism, but German units provided guards preventing these cemeteries from further desecration.  

Stop 1: Verdun.  Known for the longest lasting and costliest battles of WWI, the town of Verdun is an ever-present reminder of the massive carnage of WWI.  My mind was boggled at the size of the cemetery and number of remains in the Douaumont Ossuary, especially when I realized it represented only a small fraction of the 800,000 casualties caused by the battle.  Over 2 million artillery shells created a lunar or dune like landscape, the outlines of trenches, and the giant craters from underground detonations still scar the earth 100 years later.  Nine villages ceased to exist due to their complete devastation and unexploded ordnance created red-zones.  The Verdun Memorial Museum and the Underground Citadel in Verdun provided additional context and an appreciation for the massive logistical undertaking to sustain 300 days of battle.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive I (6 stop self-guided tour) includes a story where Captain Harry Truman disobeyed orders, The Meuse-Argonne Offensive II (5 stop self-guided tour) ends with the largest American Cemetery in Europe, Willing Patriots (5 stop self-guided tour) shares the plight of African American Units during WWI, and Heroes of the Argonne Forest (3 stop self-guided tour) shares the exploits of the Lost Battalion and Sergeant York.  Walking Sergeant York Trail outside Chatel Chehery really brought the 1941 Gary Cooper classic movie “Sergeant York” to life.

Stop 2: Reims. Known for the Reims Cathedral and Champagne, is a great base of operations to explore Chateau-Thierry and Bellau Wood (5 stop self-guided tour) and the Aisne-Marne Offensive (4 stop self-guided tour).  The 3rd Infantry Division earned its moniker “Rock of the Marne” here.  The Marines repelled a German advance here making the phrase “Retreat? Hell, we just got here” famous.  President Theodore Roosevelt’s son Quentin was killed and buried with full military honors by the German Army just outside the tiny French village of Chamery.  Side note:  The Germans signed the surrender at the end of WWII in Reims and the Museum of Surrender perfectly preserves that room.  

Stop 3: Paris.  One of the most visited cities in the world, the city of Paris (5 stop self-guided tour) includes a stop at the Arc de Triomphe. The French held a ceremony on November 11, 1921 to inter the remains of the Unknown Soldier here (the same day the Americans did at Arlington).  You learn about the selection of the Unknown Soldiers remains on the Verdun Citadel Tour (Stop 1).  The bluff above the Suresnes American Cemetery housed the Nazi Headquarters in Paris during WWII and monument to the French Resistance during WWII is also just around the corner.  When leaving Paris, be sure to stop in Compiegne to the sight of the Armistice on your way to Ypres.  You can also explore the areas around Cantigny and the Somme on your way to Ypres, or you can build in an optional stop in the beautiful city of Amiens.  The Amiens Cathedral is a UNESCO Worldwide Heritage site and provides a beautiful backdrop to explore Cantigny (6 stop self-guided tour), and the Somme (6 stop self-guided tour) including a canal with a 5.6km tunnel completed in 1810 under Napoleon.

Stop 4: Ypres.  Sitting in a strategic position, Ypres was a crucial to preventing Germany’s execution of the Schlieffen Plan sweeping across Belgium into France.  There are only a few American sites in the Ypres Salient (2 separate 3 stop self-guided tours), but this area is filled with WWI sites.  The town of Ypres and its surrounding areas had such a profound impact on me and is definitely a must visit for anyone wanting to learn more about WWI. In fact there is so much to see in the vicinity of Ypres, that it is definitely worth hiring a guide.  A great resource for local guides is: www.toerismeieper.be/battlefield-tours-private-companies.  I chose Soren Hawkes as my guide.  He was a fantastic guide (the tourist information center says he is the best), a wealth of knowledge and helped me cover far more ground than I could on my own. The “Last Post” ceremony has occurred every night at 8pm since 1928.  It is an emotional tribute indicating Belgium’s resolve in remembering these soldiers’ sacrifices for freedom.

A Road Trip with stops in these 4 cities coupled with the WWI Battlefield Companion takes you through 50+ key American WWI sites, including 8 of 9 WWI ABMC Cemeteries, 10 of 14 WWI ABMC Monuments, and countless other nations WWI contributions if coupled with local private tours in Verdun and Ypres.