Ardennes

alaric99x · (This post was last modified: 07-03-2008, 08:54 AM by alaric99x.)

During the last two weeks I've been up to Bastogne on two trips. The place is close to where I live and I drove separate routes to see the terrain where the Battle of the Bulge was fought.

On the first trip I drove through Diekirch, Clervaux and to Bastogne. I, and my wife, visited an amazing Bulge museum in Diekirch. We were kind of late in finding the museum by the time we got to Bastogne and it was closed by the time we got there.

On the second trip I drove to Arlon and then on to Bastogne. This time we were there early enough to see the museum. If any of you are ever planning to go to that area, I can tell you that the museum at Diekirch is definitely worth a visit. The museum at Bastogne is very interesting, but the one at Diekirch is much larger, maybe 8 to 10 times a big. It also costs less to enter, 5 Euro while the museum at Bastogne costs 8.50 Euro.

When I stopped at Clervaux, I didn't know that town also has a Bulge museum, there are quite a few in the Ardennes region.

In Bastogne they renamed their main market square "Place McAuliffe." There's a shop across from there that sells WWII uniform and equipment items, t-shirts, etc. I met an old gentleman who works in that shop who was a veteran of the 82nd Airborne and was present in Bastogne during the battle. He was a lieutenant at the time, but, stupidly enough, I didn't write down his name. He asked me if I'd seen "Band of Brothers" and if I believed it was true. I said, "Well, yeah, because it's based on the accounts of people who actually participated in the events." He said, "Good man, because it is all true." On the second trip I intended to visit him again and get additional information (like name, duh!) but it was a Monday and that shop is closed on Mondays. Well, I'll be back in that area again, I'd still like to see some other places like St. Vith, Malmedy, Vielsalm, etc.

If any of you guys really are planning to go to that area, let me know and I can give you some more specific info.

Steel God · (This post was last modified: 07-03-2008, 09:14 AM by Steel God.)

Thanks for sharing Eric. Do you have an pictures to share by chance?

Are you sure that vet said he was 82nd and not the 101st. I suppose he could have been from the 82nd and just got stuck there with the 101st (got on a wrong truck or something), but the 82nd as a division was further north than Bastogne.

I was in Belgium in 1994 and had one free day but choose Waterloo to go to instead of the Ardennes area. Felt I could do a smaller field better justice in just one day.

alaric99x · 07-03-2008, 09:26 AM,

Steel God Wrote:Are you sure that vet said he was 82nd and not the 101st. I suppose he could have been been from the 82nd and just got stuck there with the 101st *got on a wrong truck or something), but the 82nd as a division was further north than Bastogne.

No, I'm not sure. I'm guessing you're probably right, he must have said 101st. Like I said, I didn't even have the presence of mind to write down his name. I'll be up there again, next time I'll get all the info and his picture too.

Yeah, I took between 25 and 30 pictures, I'll send them to you tomorrow, it's getting kind of late here in Central Europe now. I'll send them to Wigam too, maybe he can use some of them in the newsletter. I already sent him some pictures of the Ligne Maginot and Verdun.

I took a lot of pictures inside the museum at Diekirch, I didn't see any prohibitions against taking pictures and nobody said anything while I was taking them. The museum at Bastogne doesn't allow that, the signs are clearly posted when you enter.

alaric99x · 07-03-2008, 09:46 AM,

Hey Paul, I sent the pics to the email you have listed here.

Most of them were taken at the museum at Diekirch. If anybody else wants them, just let me know.

Steel God · 07-03-2008, 10:11 AM,

Eric...got them...been looking at them....nice shots. I appreciate you sharing them.

alaric99x · 07-03-2008, 11:33 PM,

I'm glad you like them, I just sent you a few more.

Two more comments about the area near the Ardennes region:

Luxembourg City is definitely worth a visit, if you can get there. Sedan, a historically significant place, is not the nicest town I've seen in France, but it does have a very impressive castle. They claim it's the largest in Europe, it was big enough for me.