Wednesday, May 23rd and Thursday, May 24th, 2018 ~ Christian, Ana and Veryle flew from Denver to Salt Lake City at 11:40 AM. We arrived in Salt Lake at 1:12 pm left for Paris at 4:50p.m. We had a couple delays, first there was a mechanical problem, then after we taxied we had to sit on the runway to let the wind die down. We got into Paris May 24th about 45 minutes late, at around 12:30. Debbie left Seattle at 09:54 am and got into Dallas at 03:45. She left for Paris at 05:05 pm and arrived in May 24th at 9:35 AM. Emilee met her and they waited at the airport for us to arrive, We took an uber van to our hotel – Hotel Odessa Montparnasse 28 Rue D Odessa Paris 75014 FR. The lift was broken so we had to carry luggage to the second floor. We had a family room which consisted of a double and two twin beds. The hotel was minutes from Emilee’s apartment. Emilee’s roommate had gone back to the states and she was waiting for a new one, so she had the apartment to herself. We rested for a couple hours while Emilee ran errands then took the Metro eat at at a steak place. We all tried snails and had steak. Then we went to the Arc de Triumph and then the Eiffel tower. We got tickets for the Eiffel Tower and went to security. Emilee got stopped because she had a swiss army knife in her bag. The man was very rude and told her she couldn’t go through and Emilee asked if she could check it there, or if they had lockers. He said no to both and waved around and told her to go hide it. We all had misgivings about this, but no one voiced them, so she went and hid it. I am sure you guessed it, when we went to get the knife it was gone. I think the guards have a scam going.
Friday, May 25th, 2018 ~ Debbie and Veryle went down to a cafe and had coffee and a croissant . We asked for American coffee, but it was very strong. We then went and woke the kids, then walked to Emilee’s apartment. We went to the bakery where she usually gets breakfast and got rolls and took them to her apartment to eat them. We then took the Metro to the train station. We got to Brussels around 1:45 and picked up the van we had rented. When we saw online that Hertz insurance was going to cost $80 a day we researched and found Avanti travel insurance which was only $45 for the entire trip. They accepted it without a problem. The van was standard, rather than automatic. Since Veryle had not driven standard in 15 or so years we decided Debbie would be the driver. She got us out of the underground garage and pulled into a taxi lane so Emilee could get directions on her phone. The only problem, when it was time to leave she couldn’t get the van into reverse. Finally Christian and Veryle got out and pushed the van back (amid many stares) and we drove off. We drove to Fort Breendonk, a concentration camp about 30 miles north of Brussels and toured it. It was a camp for people accused or suspected of being spies and insurgents against Germany. It was very sad but interesting. We then drove back through Brussels for about an hour and a half to Hotel Brasserie N4 Rue Roche Percée,1, Martelange, 6630, Belgium. The first thing we did was eat in their restaurant because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We used Google translate and tried to figure out what we were eating. Ana and Veryle were going to be brave and just try something, but Veryle chickened out and got steak and fries.. We had two rooms, one on the highway side and the other on the field side. Debbie and Christian got the highway side and said it was very noisy.
Saturday, May 26th, 2018 ~ Debbie and Veryle were going to meet and sit and visit while everyone else slept. Debbie couldn’t get out the front door, but found someone to let her out and they sat until it was time to get the others going. We drove back to Bastogne and found a bakery for a breakfast of rolls. Debbie and Veryle had a cappuccino We then went to the American War Museum. It was very interesting and told how Bastogne was surrounded during the battle of the Bulge. It made it sound like the battle was fought and won there. They told the story from both the German and the allied side. We had lunch at the museum and visited the Mardasson Memorial. The Mardasson Memorial is a monument honoring the memory of American soldiers wounded or killed during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge. It is designed in the shape of a five-pointed American star. We then drove to Luxembourg City in Luxembourg to go to the Bock Casemates. Emilee had GPS taking us straight to a parking lot, but it was full so we had to drive around. We couldn’t understand the signs and at one point the GPS had us going up a small path where people were staring at us. We figured out it was a pedestrian / bike path, so Debbie turned around and got us out of there. We found a parking lot and parked, but it wouldn’t let us pay. We were worried we would get towed or ticketed but left the car and wondered around the casements. They were from medieval times and it was fun to explore them. We went into the center of Luxembourg and walked around a street market. We had dinner in a café there. Again Google translate was our friend. Debbie, Emilee, and I had a chicken pastry, Ana and Christian spaghetti. We then went back to Martelange to our motel.
Sunday, May 27th, 2018 ~ we were to meet Eric Bijtelaar (info@99thinfantrydivision.com) and Jean Louis Seel at the American cemetery near Homburg, Belgium at 9:30, so we got everyone going early. Jean Louis is an authority on the 99th Infantry Division. Eric is a researcher who we found while looking for a tour guide. We said we had gone to Bastogne and Jean Louise turned his nose up. He said they make it sound like the battle of the Bulge was won there, but it was really the 99th infantry who won the battle. The media was in Bastogne that is why they get the credit. Eric and Jean Louise are both working to make sure the 99th gets the credit it deserves. Eric is making a documentary that he will publish on YouTube sometime this year. He filmed while we were there. We had found a picture of a little girl, with the name Marie van Moer beside it, in our dads stuff that was taken while he was here. We sent it to Eric to see if he could identify her. He found the girls family, but said Marie was not well. He tried to set it up that we could visit the house where our Dad stayed, but the family quit returning his calls, so we did not get to go there. We walked around the cemetery a bit and they took us to four graves of soldiers from the 99th who had been unidentified. Jean Louise is part of a group that is trying to find remains and get them identified – they had recently helped identify the men. The 374th was in Krinkelt so we followed them in our car to Krinkelt and saw the 99th Infantry Division World War II “Battle Babies” monument there. During the battle the town was evacuated because it had been under German occupancy and too many people there spoke German. They sent the townsfolk to Bastogne. They took us to a site that was recently set up where they are preserving the foxholes on the Elsenborn ridge. They had a small memorial to both an American soldier and a German one. This is where the remains were found. They said people will go out and find the soldiers remains and then sell them online. You could tell which foxhole belonged to the Germans and which were American by where their entrance was placed. The soldiers had raided the town of Krinkelt and took doors to cover the foxholes and small things like heaters to make them more comfortable. Jean Louise verified that our dad most likely was with Bill Beyer. We showed them an article that Dan had found in a book where Bill Beyer mentioned a Henry Dewey. We said our dad was Henry Elmer, but had a brother named Dewey who he probably talked about and we though it was probably our dad. They said they were not aware of a Henry Dewey in the 371st but would check and agreed it was most likely our dad. They took us to the field where Bill Beyer had told them his battalion (our Dads) was stationed during the battle. We drove around and saw some of the other memorials to the 99th. At the last one Jean Louise told us how they used to go and find bombs and things in the field. He quit when one of his friends was blown up. Debbie asked Eric and Jean Louise why they were so interested in the 99th. They said they grew up with the older relatives talking about the battles.
We then drove to Remagan, Germany and visited the Peace Museum at the site of the Ludendorff Bridge We stayed at Hotel Pinger Geschw.-Scholl-Str. 1 Remagen, 53424, Germany. We walked a few blocks to sit by the Rhine and have dinner. Christian and Ana asked if they could walk back to the hotel because it started raining and we were just sitting. I said do you know how to get there. They both said yes. They got turned around and it took them awhile to get back. I think they were both kind of scared. Emilee’s phone was the only one set up with an International plan so they couldn’t rely on their phones for directions. The hotel was right across from the train station and very noisey. We had two rooms and made a mistake, letting Christian and Ana share one. They stayed up most of the night “talking” to friends.
Monday, May 28th, 2018 ~ Breakfast was included with the stay, so we had a nice buffet before leaving. We drove back to Brussels with a stop in Maastricht Netherlands for lunch. This was a nice stop. We ate lunch – Emilee had a dish that turned out to be horse meat stew (I think she left most of it). We walked around and went into a church. It was very peaceful and left me with a nice feeling. We then drove on into Brussels to Aparthotel Résidence Bara Midi. It was near the train station, but not in the best part of town. We found a parking spot and went and checked in. The manager said his parking could not accommodate a van. Debbie had had enough with driving (and back seat drivers) so we returned it early. Emilee also checked on her train ticket, which she hadn’t received. We then walked to the Grand Place and saw Manneken Pis and just walked around. We got to the far end and were tired so called an uber to take us back to the hotel. There was a washing machine so we did a load of laundry and hung them to dry. We let Christian and Ana take the bedroom, Debbie, Emilee and Veryle took the big room. When we went to sleep Emilee tried to turn the light off of the fan and leave the fan going. It kept speeding up, so she turned both off. All of the sudden they both turned back on, so she had to turn the switch off.
Tuesday, May 29th, 2018 ~ Debbie, Veryle and Emilee walked back to the Grand Place and got a Belgian street waffle, then back to the hotel to get the kids. Ana asked who closed the door to their room – no one did. She said she saw it close and there was a shadow. So we think we had a ghost messing with the fan and door. We went to the train station and back to Paris. We checked back into Hotel Odessa Montparnasse. The lift wasn’t fixed, so we think it probably is never fixed. She first said she was going to put us on the 6th floor, but changed it back to the 2nd floor when Debbie and I reacted to climbing the stairs. We went to Notre Dame and through it. It was more of a tourist spot and not nearly as nice as the church in Maastricht.
Wednesday, May 30th, 2018 ~ We went to Angelina and had hot chocolate and pastries. These were all very good. Then to the Louvre. We all enjoyed the statues and saw the Mona Lisa. The kids were – whats the big deal it is just a small picture. It was a lot of walking and very tiring. We had tickets to go to the Catacombs at 6:00 pm. We got there and they were closed because of a workers strike. We were disappointed because this is one of the main things we wanted to do. Ana wanted sushi and Emilee knew of a place near there, but we had to kill time until it opened. We went to the oldest restaurant in Paris and had cokes. Then walked to bridges. We saw a boat tour from one and took it. We saw a lot of thing we would not have seen. We then went to the restaurant. It was one price and you just ordered what you wanted the food was good and a good experience.
Thursday, May 31st, 2018 ~ We were tired of old things so thought we sould experience Disneyland Paris. We took an hour long metro ride and got there soon after it opened. It was kind of funny because the woman in front couldn’t get through security because she had a swiss army knife. They did have lockers there though. We first went to the Universal side. The kids went on the Tower of Terror. We got a very funny picture of Ana from it. Then we all decided to go on a roller coaster ride. This was a mistake for Debbie and me as it went upside down. We did the studio tour then across to the Disneyland side and went on It’s a Small World. Emilee was trying to maximize time and walking very fast. Debbie and Veryle decided that running through Disneyland wasn’t fun, so left the kids and went to the front and sat and watched people. Disneyland Paris is not nearly as big as US Disneylands.
Friday, June 1st, 2018 ~ We got up at 5:20, Emilee met us by the hotel and called a Uber. Veryle, Christian and Ana left 9:10 Am and flew to Atlanta. They were to get home at 5:00 pm. There was a storm and the airport closed for awhile. They did not get home until after 7:00. Debbie left at 10:35 am and flew to London. She had a long layover, then a straight flight to Seattle. She got home at 5:10 pm
It was a great trip!