Not far from Versailles or Paris is the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial dedicated to the American pilots who volunteered for the French Army and formed the Lafayette Flying Corp during the First World War. The memorial is dedicated to the more than 200 Americans who flew for France during the war. This memorial was built by…
To conclude our most recent trip to France, Nik and I didn’t want to stay in Paris again so we decided to spend one night in Versailles which is just outside city limits. The Palace of Versailles is the former royal residence built by King Louis XIV in the 17th Century and it’s all anyone knows…
After visiting Verdun we headed about 90 miles north towards the scene of heavy fighting in the early days of the Second World War along the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was a series of French fortifications built in the 1930’s to prevent another German invasion. Some of the forts were built with major infrastructure to…
While staying in Reims we took a 90 minute drive to see some of the memorials to the Battle of Verdun. The Battle off Verdun was the longest and deadliest of the First World War, lasting 302 days and with estimates of nearly 715,000 casualties (377,000 French, 337,000 German). The German strategy was to bleed…
When U2 lead singer Bono announced a 14-city tour called “Stories of Surrender” to perform stories from his memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, I knew that I’d want to go if it included a stop in or near Spain. Of the 14 cities, only four shows would be in Europe, including Madrid, Spain. (Berlin, Paris and…
Where to start? We arrived April 14 and have been living in Barcelona for just about seven months now and it’s been a a good experience. Nik and I have learned a lot about what we like and don’t like about living abroad. We still have about six more months on our current rental before…