Tour Historian
Dr Steve Weiss, MA, PhD. Senior Research Fellow, War Studies at Kings College London, your tour guide, served as a nineteen year old first scout in an American infantry rifle squad in Italy, France, and Germany. He landed in Southern France on D-Day.  Listed as ‘Missing In Action’ during the Battle of Montélimar, he served with the French Resistance and an American OSS Operational Group behind enemy lines. For these exploits, he was awarded the French Resistance Medal, two Croix de Guerre, and the American Bronze Star. President Jacques Chirac of France presented him with the Chevalier of the Legion d’ Honneur in 1999, France’s highest decoration. On 22nd June 2007 he was promoted to Officier of the Légion d’ Honneur. He has led tours across Normandy, The Battle of the Bulge to the Rhine, and the Italian Campaign. Having roamed through the Champagne Campaign region several times, Dr. Weiss is well prepared to serve you.  

Friday, September 12
Flight to Nice

Saturday, September 13 – St-Raphaél
After flying to Nice from the U. S. our representative will meet you at the Airport. Our group will then drive along the picturesque Mediterranean coast to our hotel at St-Raphaél, our first port of call. At St-Raphaél, a thriving holiday town with a beautiful beach and harbor, we will meet at the hotel for our Ambrose welcoming dinner. (D)

Sunday September 14 – St. Raphaél to Aix-en-Provence
St-Raphaél, liberated on the first day of the landing, has two monuments of note: one commemorates the landing of Napoleon on his return from Egypt on October 9th 1799; the other is for Jean de Lattre de Tassigny commander of the French 1st. Army. We will visit Dramont, on the outskirts of St-Raphaél, the D-Day landing beach site of the 36th ‘Texas’ Infantry Division, one of three veteran American divisions involved in the Operation Anvil-Dragoon invasion. On its promenade, overlooking the landing beach, is a monument dedicated to the 36th, as well as one of the landing craft’s used during the amphibious assault. We continue our tour and visit Ste-Maxime, a major landing site of the 45th ‘Thunderbird Infantry Division. We will continue on by St-Tropez once a simple fishing village later transformed into a chic resort by such luminaries as Brigitte Bardot. It was a wartime objective of the 3rd. Infantry Division. Audie Murphy won his Distinguished Service Cross nearby at Ramatuelle. A short distance to the west is Cavalaire-sur-Mer, a beach resort with a ruined castle, yacht harbor and sandy beach. We will pause at the 3rd Infantry Division’s commemorative monument on the esplanade that overlooks the bay. It is a short distance to Draguignan, a thriving Provençal town, known for its artillery school and the American Rhone US military cemetery. Here 861 soldiers are buried and 293 posted as missing. Our wreath ceremony pays tribute to the fallen. We locate and visit the small nearby villages that played such an important part in the airborne landing of General Robert Frederick’s Ist. Airborne Task Force. Fighting was intense yet brief. Joining with the local officials, we gather at the general’s first French headquarters. We complete our day by driving to Aix-en-Provence, a relatively short distance away. Aix, the historical capital of Provence, will be our headquarters for the next two nights. (B,D)

Monday, September 15 – Aix-en-Provence
East of Hyères, the French 1st Army activated its plan to outflank and encircle major elements of the German XIX Army. The battles ranged from close combat, to allied naval bombardment and air support, particularly at Toulon, the pre-eminent naval base of France, The city fell to the French five days later who took two thousand prisoners. We tour through the battlements and forts above the naval base and visit the D-Day Landing Museum as guests of the French navy.
On our way west to Marseilles, we stop at Aubagne, a strongly fortified village where the headquarters and museum of the French Foreign Legion are located. Legionnaires will await our arrival. Novelist and film producer, Marcel Pagnol, was born here. We arrive in Marseilles, the country’s second largest city that was attacked by the 3rd Algerian Division. Bitter fighting continued for three days along the waterfront, and when the city was liberated on August 28th, thousands of Germans surrendered and were taken prisoner. Marseilles, originally founded by the Greeks, emits a strong flavor of North Africa and of bouillabaisse. We tour the city and pay tribute to Varian Fry, American hero of the resistance. (B,D)

Tuesday, September 16 – Aix-en-Provence
Free day in town.

Aix-en-Provence, home of Paul Cezanne, is a charming Provençal city of art, music and culture. Aix is home to many museums and galleries, as well as art schools and universities. Here the atmosphere teems with culture and creativity. Founded by the Romans in 123 B.C. on a site of hot springs, Aix became part of France with the rest of Provence in 1487. Here you can stroll the Cours Mirabeau and linger in the café, Deux Garcons, as did Cezanne, Emile Zola and Ernest Hemingway. (B)

Wednesday, September 17 – Aix-en-Provence to Lyon
We now head north along the Rhône River. The Rhône flows from its source in Switzerland all the way to the Mediterranean. This is fertile country dotted with ancient hilltop villages, walled towns, fruit orchards and vineyards known the world over. Although inspired by Avignon, we have an appointment to meet with the 1st REC (Regiment Etranger Cavalerie) of the French Foreign Legion based in Orange, a Roman town that was old even by the reign of Augustus. The 3rd Divison liberated Orange on 26 August 1944 and attacked the German XIX army.
Thirty miles further on, we enter Montélimar, known for its nougat candy, and most remembered for the battle that pitted the 36th ‘Texas,’ 3rd ‘Rock of the Marne’ divisions and the French Resistance against the German XIX army in late August 1944. Although much of it escaped, the allies attempted to encircle and destroy the XIX army. The allies inflicted a grave defeat on the enemy between the 21st to the 28th of August. Joining with French veterans, we visit the battlefield. By following the German retreat along the Rhône, we view the bridge at Livron that the Resistance blew up in an attempt to trap the enemy. We will pass through Valence, which fell to the 36th without a fight on August 29th.

With the Rhône on our left, we depart Valence and travel to Lyon, sixty miles north. Lyon is the country’s third largest city and the gastronomic capital of France. (B,D)

Thursday, September 18 – Lyon
Lyon was founded as a Roman colony in 43 BCE by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of Caesar, on the site of a Gaulish hill-fort settlement. It is a major centre of business, situated between Paris and Marseilles, and has a reputation as the French capital of gastronomy. Also known as the silk capital of the world and played a significant role in the history of cinema. However it is the capital of the Rhône département, and the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région. Lyon was liberated on September 3rd, two months ahead of schedule. We see ‘Old Lyon,’ its underground passages and visit its Resistance museum.

The afternoon is free to explore this great French city. (B)

Friday, September 19 – Lyon to Dijon
To the northeast of Lyon, is the territory fought over between the 11th Panzer and the US 45th division. Between Bourg-en-Bresse (known for its delicious roast chicken) and Montrevel, the XIX continued its retreat to the German border. The French Resistance and the 45th division G.I.s fought together as brothers-in-arms during late August and September and impeded the German retreat, frequently in hand to hand fighting. At Montrevel, an American cavalry unit is overwhelmed by the 11th Panzer Division. Five G.I.s are killed, 126 captured and 31 are wounded, the seriously wounded were left behind. The Germans seized 35 vehicles including 20 jeeps, and destroyed 2 tanks. Only 8 G.I.s could be found. We pay our respects here.

We enter Burgundy by driving through rolling hills dotted with vineyards, which produce some of the greatest wines in the world. The grape harvest could be in full swing. Following the route of the 11th Panzer, we reach the medieval town of Beaune. Near a small wine village near Dijon, early on Sept 12th, 1944, units of the 1st French army and French elements of Patton’s Third army joined forces at Chatillon sur Seine. ‘Anvil-Dragoon’ became one with ‘Overlord,’ and Eisenhower’s‘ Broad Front Policy’ came into existence. Dijon, an administrative and gastronomic center, fell to the French on 11 September. We visit the great vineyards on the Route des Grands Cru and the twelfth century Chateau of the Clos de Vougeot, home of the Ordre of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (a brotherhood of knights), an internationally known Burgundian wine and food society. Banquets are held at the chateau. We spend the night nearby. (B,D)

Saturday September 20 – Dijon to Epinal
Between Montbelliard, an industrial center on the Rhône-Rhine Canal, and Belfort. The German rearguard of the XIX slowed the advance of the French 1st in mid-September. We follow in its footsteps. The 11th has its operational tanks doubled. We drive to Besançon, a fortress town of the first class, built beside the River Doubs. We learn that Victor Hugo, the author of Les Miserables, was born here in 1802.

Belfort is situated on a strategically important route between the Rhine and the Rhône Rivers, the Belfort Gap. We visit the statue, the Lion of Belfort that commemorates the Franco-Prussian War siege of 1871.We visit Fort du Salbert, the scene of a 1500 man 1st Fr. Army commando raid on 19 Nov. ’44, They used ropes to drop into the deep moats surrounding the fort, without raising the alarm, and then managed to take the garrison by surprise and subdue it. Belfort was finally liberated on 22 November after three days of street fighting and tank battles.

We follow the Belfort Gap and drive into the southern part of the Vosges mountains. Situated high above Cernay, liberated in February 1945, are the trenches of the Vieil Armand, a World War I battlefield in which thousands lost their lives. We see the crypt containing the remains of 12 thousand unknown soldiers. From here it’s another forty miles to Epinal, capital of the Vosges region. The 45th Division captured Epinal on September 24th after fierce house-to-house fighting. The American cemetery located nearby contains the graves of 5200 soldiers who lost their lives during the fall and winter campaigns of ’44-’45. (B,D)

Sunday, September 21 – Epinal to Strasbourg
Following the route of the 36th, we reach the villages of Bruyeres and Biffontaine where the 442nd Regiment of Japanese-Americans rescued a ‘lost battalion’ of the 36th cut off by the Germans in the forest. The battalion’s motto was ‘Remember the Alamo, the 442nd’s, ‘Go for Broke.’ Fighting was fierce, casualties high. Advancing, we reach St. Die, a Vosges industrial, commercial, and communication center. The Gestapo deliberately put the town to the torch in late November. The first use of the word “America” was printed here in 1507. Twenty miles further on, we reach the gates of the only concentration camp ever built on French territory called Natzweiler-Le Struthof. Liberated by the 3rd division, it was a miniature Auschwitz. There is much to see and contemplate. We lay a wreath in remembrance to all those who died here. We travel on the Alsace wine route to Sélestat, known for its regional architecture and good Alsatian cuisine and wine.

We continue through the Vosges, driving through the town of Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, liberated by the 36th in late October, 1944, and where Pvt. Eddie Slovik of the 28th Inf. division was executed for desertion on 31 January, 1945. Soldiers of the French II Corps liberated Keysersberg, one of the most picturesque towns in Alsace, in December 1944. Those who died during the liberation are buried in the town cemetery. In Turckheim we visit the military museum dedicated to the battle. We commemorate the battle of the Colmar Pocket with the town officials, a German salient on the west side of the Rhine. The last German offensive, ‘Operation Nordwind,’ took place during December/January 1944-1945, and Audie Murphy won his Medal of Honor near here in January 1945. We complete our day at Strasbourg. (B,D)

Monday, September 22 – Strasbourg
Strasbourg is an important center of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine. The historic center, the Grande Île (“Grand Island”), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honor was placed on an entire city center. The city is beautifully fused into the Franco-German culture (Alemannic), and is regarded as the bridge of unity between modern France and Germany.

This morning we will go on a city tour of Strasbourg. Free afternoon. (B)

Tuesday, September 23 – Strasbourg to Mannheim
We enter the world of the Maginot Line fortresses at Bitche, a garrison town near the German border. The focus of our visit is the fortress of Le Simserhof, one of the most powerful and almost impregnable on the line. Designed as a mixed garrison of 1200 men, it is 2.5 miles from Bitche and 10 miles from the German border. We leave France and enter Germany near Wissembourg/Schweigen. Destination: Mannheim. We end our tour at Mannheim, Germany with a farewell dinner. (B,D)

Wednesday September 24 – Flight home
We will provide transportation to Frankfurt airport. (B)