Saturday, March 15, 2003: Depart New York City’s JFK Airport at 6:20 p.m.
Sunday, March 16: Arrive in Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport at 7:30 a.m. where, after clearing immigration and customs, the tour will be met by a Paris guide and tour bus for a three hour city tour.
Late morning arrive at the Mercure Hotel in the Montparnasse district, deposit luggage, and have the reminder of the afternoon to rest or tour.
Group dinner at the hotel at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 17: Depart in the morning to drive north toward Normandy. View Field Marshal Rommel’s headquarter chateau at Roche Guyon along the Seine River. Continue north into Normandy Campaign area, stopping at Pegasus Bridge and Caen Memorial Museum. If time permits, visit the site of a SS atrocity on Caen’s northern outskirts.
Dinner and overnight at the Caen Mercure hotel.
Tuesday, March 18: Tour famed Omaha Beach (the “Saving Private Ryan” area) including an emotional stop at the cemetery overlooking the hallowed beach. Honor Waldron Moser Polgreen ’31 by laying wreath on his grave. Next on to the Ranger cliff actions at Pointe del Ioc, the artificial port floated across from England at Arromanches, the Longues Battery over viewing the American and British assault beaches, and Port-en-Bessin, the setting for a portion of the movie “The Longest Day”
Dinner and overnight at the Caen Mercure hotel.
Wednesday, March 19: Tour the Barquette Lock that back flooded the neck of the Contentin Peninsula creating only narrow, long causeway access to the German held high ground. On to the 2nd assault at Utah Beach, the Sergeant Summers lonely assault on the 10 farm building that created the Sergeant Summers of WW@. This route leads on to Ste Mere Eglise attached by the 82nd Airborne Division in the predawn hours of D-Day. The tour then moves to several causeways held by tenacious Germans. The day closes with a visit to one of five German Cemeteries in Normandy.
Dinner and overnight at the Caen Mercure hotel.
Friday March 21:Travel into Germany tracing the route of Combat Group Peiffer to its end point at the museum at la Gleize and Soumont. Visit the Malmedy and Honsfeld Massacre sites. Return to Bastogne Melba Hotel.
Saturday March 22 Continue the Battle of the Bulge area tour with a drive to St. Vith area to visit Bleiall, Skyline Drive, Schoenberg, Heersbach and Prumer Berg
Sunday March 23: Morning check out and drive to the Bastogne perimeter. View the site where General Patton’s 3rd Army armored divisions broke through to open up a reinforcement corridor into Bastogne. Stand where American General MacAuliffe responded to the German command to surrender with the famous one word answer, “Nuts.”
Arrive at Bruselles President North Hotel late afternoon and Gourmet dinner in a restaurant on the Grande Place.
Monday March 24: Checkout and depart to airport for a late morning flight from Bruselles to New York City arriving mid afternoon.