DDay 1 Flight to Paris
Flights out – participants depart the United States for Paris.

Day 2 Normandy
D-Day
After an early morning arrival at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, the group will rendezvous and depart by motorcoach. Upon our arrival in Normandy, we will visit the American Cemetery that stretches along the bluff so we can pay our respects at the hundreds of crosses and stars of David to the deceased. Your historian, Kevin Hymel, will give a brief overview of General Patton and his Third Army at the Welcome Dinner and reception this evening.

Day 3 Brittany
The Breakthrough
Our day will begin at Patton’s Headquarters in Nehou where the general waited for the Third Army to become operational. From there we will drive to Countances, where Patton first took command and slashed through the German lines to put his tanks in the lead. Further south we will visit the site where American tanks destroyed the SS German armored column. We will stop at a statue to Patton where the Third Army broke into the Brittany Peninsula and headed east, west and south through the German lines. We will then visit the World War II Museum in Avranches and the hard-fought for bridge outside of town which was the key to taking the city. Finally, we will see the Pontaubault Bridge where Patton’s troops poured into the Brittany peninsula.

Day 4 Normandy
Hitler’s Counterattack
We will visit Mont St. Michel, the medieval monastery and walled city where Patton visited during his honeymoon. It is a must for any visit to France. We continue to Mortain, the mountaintop town where the Germans attacked the 30th Infantry Division in an effort to cut off Patton’s base of supplies. Although surrounded, the Americans held out for six days until relief arrived. The mountaintop affords an excellent view of the surrounding countryside.

Day 5 Reims
Breakout
In the morning we will visit Le Mans, an ancient castle that Patton thought was the best he had ever seen. The general even posed for and took pictures there himself. Then we will travel to Argentan where elements of the Third Army turned north to close the Falaise Gap. At Chambois, we will view where American, Polish and Canadian troops fought to stop the retreating Germans. The museum in Chambois provides an excellent overview of the battle at the Falaise Gap.

Day 6 Metz area
World War I
We begin our day at Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims where German General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945 ending WWII in Europe. We will then go to Verdun, site of some of the greatest battles of World War I. Patton visited Verdun’s Fort Dounamont once after the guns of August fell silent and again thirty-five years later. When he returned to Verdun the second time, he told Eisenhower and Bradley that he could relieve the 101st Airborne Division that was surrounded at Bastogne, and he said he could be ready to do it in an astounding 72 hours.
Our group will visit Essen and Pannes, two of the towns where Patton led his tanks into the battle of St. Mihiel, one of the first major engagements by the U.S. Army in the First World War. Outside of Essen, we will see the location where Patton met Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur during an effort by the Allies to cut off a German bulge in their lines, and the two bravely stood together as German artillery approached them. In Pannes, Patton rode a tank into battle and personally helped chase the Germans out of the town. These actions in World War I proved the abilities of tanks in warfare.

Day 7 Metz area
Without Gas
In September 1944, with little fuel, supplies and replacements, Patton took Metz, a fortress city surrounded by six steep granite hills that were heavily fortified by many conquerors over the centuries. No army had ever overcome the six forts. We will visit the largest and toughest of the six, Fort Driant, with its 14-foot thick walls. During World War II, it was the German headquarters and nerve center from which they directed the artillery of all six forts.

From there we will visit a spot on the Moselle River where elements of the Third Army crossed to repel a German counter-attack. After study and discussion in the field, we will retire to L’Horizon hotel for lunch. Behind the hotel there is a century-old fort that Patton himself visited during a lull in the fighting, and even fired off a few shots into Germany. Later, we will tour part of the Maginot Line, France’s defensive front in 1940. We will then visit Fremersdorf where Patton came under fire while visiting the front lines.

Day 8 Luxembourg
The Bulge, Part 1
When the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge, Patton turned his Army north towards Bastogne where the 101st Airborne Division was holding the town. We will view the Patton statue in Ettlebruck and the Battle of the Bulge Museum in Diekirch. We will visit the woods where American and German foxholes still remain. Further north we will tour the location of the only night attack by Patton’s Army.

Day 9 Luxembourg
The Bulge, Part 2
From Luxembourg City, we will retrace Patton’s relief of Bastogne. We will see the site of the final attack by Col. Creighton Abrams to relieve the 101st Airborne Division. After a stop at McAuliffe Square, we will visit General McAuliffe’s headquarters where he replied to the German surrender notice. We will also see the front lines that were defending Bastogne at Noville. The day will end with a wreath laying ceremony at Patton’s grave in Hamm.

Day 10 Mannheim
The Last Days of Patton
We will drive to Oppenheim where the Third Army crossed the Rhine River – a goal Patton wanted and ultimately achieved by arriving one day ahead of his rival, British Field Marshall Montgomery. After that we will drive to Mannheim and see the spot where the car accident happened that paralyzed Patton and eventually cost him his life. We will also visit the church at Heidelberg where Patton’s funeral took place. We can review and reflect on our journey across Europe, and our travels in the footsteps of General Patton, at the Farewell Dinner on this last evening of the tour.

Day 11 Home
An early morning transfer to the Frankfurt International Airport.

Tour includes:
• Lectures by historian, Kevin Hymel and Brigadier General Raymond Bell
• Touring by private first class air-conditioned motorcoach
• 9 nights in first class hotels
• Hotel taxes, porterage and service charges
• 9 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 9 dinners
• All entrance fees to museums and attractions

Historians
Kevin M. Hymel is the Associate Editor of ARMY Magazine and the Research Director for WWII History and Military Heritage magazines. He has written numerous articles for each. He is the author of Patton’s Photographs: War as He Saw It and has given tours before for Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours. He received his Bachelor degree in History from LaSalle University and a Master degree from Villanova University. He lives in Arlington, Va.

Raymond E. Bell Jr. is a retired army brigadier general who graduated from west point in 1957. Commissioned in the armor branch, he served in tank and armored cavalry units in Germany, the U.S., Korea and Vietnam. He taught history at the military academy from 1969-71. He holds a master’s degree from Middlebury College in German Culture and a PhD in Central European History from NYU. He ended his military career as commanding general of a military police brigade. On retirement he led battlefield tours fro World War II veterans in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. He is also a frequent contributor to U.S. and foreign military journals.

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