5-Day Break

Day 1 – Local departure by coach then onwards to the Reims area for a four-night stay.
Day 2 – Miracle of the Marne – American Marines at Belleau Wood (included). Our journey starts not
far from Paris on the River Marne at La Ferte sous Jouarre. We see the British Memorial to the Missing of the 1914 campaign and the Royal Engineers Memorial to where the pontoon bridges across the Marne were built. At Montreuil aux Lihons we visit British graves from September 1914, and at Chateau-Thierry
see the huge American Memorial commemorating the 1918 battle. After lunch we follow the story of the US Marines in Belleau Wood, seeing the US Cemetery and Memorial and field guns among the trees. We then see the huge and impressive ‘Ghosts’ monument on the hillside at Butte de Chalmont, and look at British troops in the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918, visiting Raperie British Cemetery. We end the day in Soissons for a visit to the Soissons Memorial to the Missing. B
Day 3 – Champagne – Fort La Pompelle (included). We start just outside Reims at Fort La Pompelle; now a museum, it sat on the front line for four years and houses a massive collection of war material, the fort still showing the signs of terrific bombardments. We then see where the French attacked at Mourmelon in 1915 and 1917, visiting French and German graves, and also the unique Russian Cemetery and Memorial chapel commemorating Russian troops who fought for France. Lunchtime in Suippes, with extended time to visit the Champagne-Marne Museum, before visiting Navarin Farm and the American Memorial on Blanc Mont, set among trenches and shell holes from 1918.  B
Day 4 – Meuse-Argonne – Verdun (included). At Vauquois, we see where a whole village was blown off a hillside following tunnelling operations by French and German troops. We then follow the US Advance in September 1918 to Romagne, visiting the War Museum, and nearby Meuse-Argonne War Cemetery – the largest American cemetery in Europe with more than 14,000 graves! After lunch we travel to Verdun, to see the Ossuary at Douaumont; an imposing memorial which contains the bones of more than 120,000 soldiers who fell at Verdun in 1916. We then look at the battle of the Verdun forts, seeing Fort Vaux and Fort Douaumont, and going into central Verdun before returning to Reims. B
Day 5 – To Calais, then return home. B

Included Meals: B=Breakfast

Accommodation
You will stay for four nights at the 3-star Quality Hotel Reims Cathédrale in Reims, located approximately a 10 minute walk from the cathedral. The hotel offers a restaurant and bar plus lift. All bedrooms have T.V., telephone, hairdryer, and air-conditioning. Due to high demand other hotels of a similar standard may be used.

Extras
Single room supplement £99
Travel Insurance - Standard £29.95, Gold Upgrade £5

Prices are per person, based on two sharing. Named accommodation may be changed if necessary by the tour operator. If this is the case you will be advised of all new details at time of enquiry. All holidays and prices are subject to availability and changes.