Veteran's Day is special every year. While Americans take time out to honor our servicemen and women, the day carries significantly more meaning throughout the rest of the world. November 11th is Armistice Day--the day the the Great War, World War I, formally concluded. It is a day that brings most of Europe to a halt. 2018 was the Centennial and fell on a Sunday, which meant Monday was the holiday observance. With a three-day weekend available, we headed west to Paris.

Transportation To and Around Paris

Getting to Paris from western Germany is one of the easiest travel experiences we've had. Instead of the five hour drive, we opted to take the Intercity Express, or ICE, train from Saarbrucken (book here) and arrived at the Gare de l'Est in the 10th Arrondissement less than two hours later. Tickets for the ICE ran about $200 round trip with the boys traveling for free.

Getting around Paris itself was straightforward with a myriad of options available to a visitor. Aside from the ever-present taxi/Uber/Lyft options, Paris is served by a phenomenal metro and bus system. RATP operates the system and makes it easy for the Parisian visitor to see all the city has to offer. The train system is comprised of three key segments, the metro (14 lines), the regional trains (13 lines), and the trams (10 lines). To utilize the overall system, the best option is to purchase a Paris Visite pass that is available in 1, 2, 3, or 5-day lengths. The five-day pass, valid for central Paris (Zones 1-3), at present costs 38.35 Euro for adults and 19.15 Euro for children (age 4-11). If you're seeking to head out to Versailles, you'll need to select the Zone 1-5 pass. Additionally, we'd highly recommend downloading the RATP app for your iOS or Android phone. The app provides an offline system map as well as real-time arrivals for all trains, trams and buses.

While we did not use it, another great option is the Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus that runs throughout the city and stops at the most commonly visited sites across the city.

Lodging

Before proceeding forward, it has to be stated that if you're seeking to stay in Paris, you need to expect small rooms, and the closer you get to the Seine River, the more expensive your lodging is going to get. With that out of the way, we stayed in a two-bed family room in the centrally-located Ibis Styles Lafeyette Opera hotel located near the Grands Boulevards Metro, a few blocks East of the Paris Opera. The Ibis Styles is a no frills hotel, but did allow for us to drop off our baggage while our room was being prepared--a great feature that would prove beneficial when we were departing.

Dining

With the incalculable number of dining options available to us, we have to admit that we ate dinner at Five Guys twice. After 18 months of no American food options, it was an enjoyable treat. Breakfast on Sunday took us to Kozy Lafayette. I first discovered Kozy and their amazing Weekend Brunch through the Top Paris Restaurants Instagram feed, and Janet and I were both excited to finally experience it ourselves. The food lived up to the pictures! If you're looking for a great breakfast on the weekend, check out any of their three locations across the city. 

Sights to See

Eiffel Tower

Thankfully our tickets were for a set time slot and moved to a shorter line--only to find out that for security reasons, the tower had been fully evacuated. Out time slot came and went, and we ran into friends and their kids from our church who were also visiting for the weekend. After a short wait, we made it into the tower and took the lift up to the second platform. Upon arrival, we weaved our way to the lift that took us to the summit, 906 feet above the ground.



Following our ascent we made our way across the Seine toward the Trocodero metro station. We paused to let the boys ride the carousel (there are two, one next to the Eiffel Tower and the other located on the right bank). Ascending the steps, we were presented one of the iconic photos of Paris.


Musee d'Orsay / Musee de l'Orangerie / Louvre

Like Parisian dining options, there are seemingly countless museums to visit. With our limited time, we opted to visit the top three, and were not disappointed.  Sunday took us to the Musee d'Orsay and the Musee de l'Orangerie. Arriving at the d'Orsay in the pouring rain, we were greeted by an exceptionally long entrance line (what else would Parisians and tourists do but go inside while its raining), but were promptly pulled out of the line by one of the staff and taken direct to the entrance--all due to having Sam in the stroller!  A huge thanks to the d'Orsay staff for looking after families!

The d'Orsay sits in a converted railway station on the Left Bank. The architecture is amazing, and could stand by itself without the various masterpieces that reside within its walls. The museums of Europe present special exhibitions throughout the year and during our visit, it was a Picasso one. The list of great works of art is long in the d'Orsay, but we were able to view some famous Van Goghs. Will's favorite in the museum was a modern sculpture of a Polar Bear.

Across the Seine, and a couple of blocks northeast of the d'Orsay sits the l'Orangerie. This is a extremely small museum (even smaller than the Van Gogh in Amsterdam--more on that in a separate post), yet is home to Monet's Water Lilies. Encompassing an entire floor of the museum, these four large canvases were amazing to view in person.


Our last full day in Paris took us to the Louvre. Words cannot describe this masterpiece of architecture, let alone the masterpieces of art contained within its halls. Will was able to view the Mona Lisa amidst the crowds of tourists, and Janet thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Dutch masters wing. I was most eager to get into the near-East and Greek wings and these did not disappoint. Some of my personal favorites were the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Code of Hammurabi, and the  winged human-headed bulls that guarded the gates of Sargon II's capitol, Dur Sarrukin.


Saint Chapelle and Notre Dame

No trip to Paris is complete without visiting Notre Dame. We are so incredibly thankful that we took the time to stop in light of the recent catastrophic fire that has closed the cathedral for the indefinite future. Entry was free.

Often overlooked, Saint Chapelle is, in our opinion, more stunning than Notre Dame. Notre Dame is grand and iconic, Saint Chapelle is simply breathtaking. The stained glass windows stole the show, but we were equally fascinated by the intricate tile work beneath our feet.

One month ago we undertook our first truly large travel day in terms of both time and distance; which would be subsequently surpassed in only a few short weeks . Being affiliated with the military makes Memorial Day and Veteran's Day special each year. 2017 has been doubly so with how we decided to celebrate them.  This past May, we had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery for the morning. Arlington is always a somber occasion, and this time we were honored to be given yellow roses to place on one of the many headstones across the grounds. After being turned away from the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns due to being beyond capacity, we returned to a stretch of additional unknown soldier grave sites (there are countless throughout Arlington) and elected to honor those men known only to God. My favorite memory of that day was watching Will gently placing his rose on a headstone.

Even though Friday was the federal holiday observance, we opted to delay our activities until Saturday to coincide with the official holiday.  Our day began at the Saint Mihiel American Cemetery near Thiaucourt-Regniéville, France. St. Mihiel is one of 21 cemeteries scattered across Europe and managed by the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, is 40.5 acres in size and contains the graves of 4153.  St. Mihiel is a World War I focused site which was fitting for why we remember our Veterans each November.

While the United States has since broadened the meaning to the all-encompassing "Veteran's Day," today's international holiday began as "Remembrance Day" in 1919 to commemorate the armistice between the Allies and Germany signed at Compiègne, France ending open combat across the Western Front.  Fittingly, the armistice took effect at 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month.  To this day, it its still observed throughout the world, most notable in the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands.


 A steady, blowing rain had been present since early in the morning and continued as we walked the grounds. This past Memorial Day notwithstanding, most of our visits to hallowed grounds encounter drearier weather--our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial in 2008 comes to mind. Strolling the grounds, once can't help but to read the dates of death of these Americans. Looking back across history, St. Mihiel is extremely sobering as many of these Americans died a mere two months or fewer prior to the armistice coming into effect. 

Following our visit to St. Mihiel, we set off on a 35 minute drive northwest toward Verdun. Verdun was the site of a 300 day battle that saw more than 60 million combined artillery shells fired by the Allies and the Germans. The Verdun Memorial is located on a ridge northeast of the city of Verdun. As you drive to the crest of the ridge, the land begins showing the effects of the battle. The entire landscape is pot-marked from the artillery barrage, and the remains of the village of Fleury-devant Douaumont are located just northwest of the museum.

The memorial itself is one of the best battlefield museums I've ever visited. In addition to the normal entrance tariffs, a military discounted ticket was also available, and was extended to us even though we were not French military members. The museum is two-stories and walks the visitor through the entire 300 days of battle. Static displays are broken up by interactive and video displays. The boys enjoyed listening to these interactive listening stations, even if they constantly switched the audio between French, English and German!

One of my favorite displays in the entire museum was a display of medals earned by Frenchmen who fought in the campaign. The Verdun Medal itself is very simple, yet dignified. The medal carries the inscription "They Shall Not Pass," which again, I cannot help but to imagine inspired Tolkien when writing the battle of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Veteran's Day 2017 was a memorable one and I whole heartedly recommend visiting the Verdun Memorial if you have any interest in military history.