The sixth day of our trip started with a foggy early morning drive out of Normandy across the Seine and into Belgium.
Plan for the French tolls but don’t be intimidated. We used contactless credit card at all toll booths, but as always in the EU, have Euro on hand just in case. Some toll sites you just pay a set fee for the next section. Some give you a parking lot style ticket and you pay when you exit. Aim for the lanes that have a parking ticket icon above them and you should be fine. You can see what it looks like in the video.
After a nice drive through the countryside, we arrived in the city of Bastogne and made our way to the Bastogne War Museum just on the other side of town.
We had mixed feelings on this museum. The displays were nice, and they had a great concept of following the lives of four individuals through the war. The headphones for the audio tour activate each bit of narrative based on your proximity to certain spots in the museum, which is brilliant!
Unfortunately, it’s a little wonky and you find yourself pacing around trying to find the right spot for the part of the story you want to hear. Cutting edge concept, but the implementation needs some tweaking. Some parts of the museum were a bit long on the audio and reading heavy with little on display, but they had some interesting theatre viewings as well. It was also dark in places which made for difficult filming, not that it matters for normal viewing. It’s worth a stop if you are in Bastogne.
We also saw the nearby and massive Mardasson Memorial, but it was unfortunately still covered in scaffolding for restoration despite similar efforts just a few years ago.
Next, we were off to the second of those two Easy Company Memorials I mentioned on the way to the Bois Jacques where Easy dug in during the Battle of the Bulge. You now must pay to see the Bois Jacques, which is a bit disappointing, but admission is included if you have your ticket from the Bastogne War Museum. You’ll have to scan it to go through the ridiculous gate, so don’t throw those away. They don’t do a great job of explaining this at the museum, they just give you a pile of tickets and send you on your way. Be very careful with the entry turnstile/man-shredder, we saw one child almost break his leg in it. Despite the complete idiocy of the hindered access, the is a must see.
We skipped the Bois de la Paix site and instead rode through part of the village of Foy (Fwa) before heading off to spend the night at the amazing hotel and restaurant Beim Schlass in Wiltz, Luxembourg.
5 сен 2024
