Chapter 6b Sélestat: A Two-Day Trek (Day One)

September 28


On this bright September morning we set off for the Épinal American Cemetery and Memorial. The city of Épinal was the location of the 409's first bivouac in northeastern France and the cemetery is the final resting place of the 409's first casualties.  Having collected our good friend Fran from the railroad station on the previous evening, our trio became a 409 groupie group of four. Fran is a friend from the Berkshires, now living in Scotland, who had been visiting the French Alps. 

Off we went over the mountains on a two-lane road that offered breath-taking views, and a few breath-taking curves.


One tiny hamlet, way up high in the mountains, was called "Petit Haut". Little High Place. So descriptive. We wondered what the inhabitants did for a living. There were a few farms and inns to welcome hikers and cross-country skiers. 

Naturally, we assumed that the Épinal American Cemetery was in Épinal. Only to be disabused of that notion by the Épinal Tourist Information office. No, she insisted it was NOT in Épinal, but in Dinozé. She seemed quite irritated that this question kept coming up. Gratefully we accepted her map and continued on to Le Quéquement, in the Commune of Dinozé.












There are 10 American military cemeteries in France, of which five are for World War II soldiers. 
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/index.php

 


Each of the 3 American cemetaries that we eventually visited had a white marble building like this one, with a non-denominational chapel, 
and a room opposite containing glorious floor-to-ceiling mosaics of the campaigns fought by the men buried there.




A white marble memorial wall, planted with rose bushes, stretched back toward the field of crosses behind the building.

"On this monument are engraved the names of the American soldiers, who having given...

...the gift of their lives for their country, now repose in these unknown places."

View of the cemetery lawn and field of crosses. Floral memorials on stands next to the lawn are from local French veterans' groups, and regional governments.

Harley Richardson, a veteran who served with Madonna's Dad, had provided us with good information about the soldiers from the 409th Infantry who were buried in this cemetery.  

Thanks to him, we were able to find the four from "L" Company who had been killed in this campaign. 


We brought flowers for the graves of those four men, as they were comrades-in-arms with Charles Meagher Sr. And we took pictures of each one to send to Harley Richardson.


The grave in the photo below is that of Pfc. Joseph Tillema, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He and Pfc Patrick Robinson of Santa Fe, New Mexico were the first two "L" Company soldiers killed. They died from a German land mine (story in Chapter 3 "Preparation for a Baptism of Fire").

Charles Jr., Madonna, and Fran.

There were two rooms inside the white marble building above, at the entrance to the cemetery. On one side was the chapel. 


Opposite was a room with intricately detailed mosaics commemorating the campaigns and mosaic maps of the battle routes. 

By now you must all know how much I love maps - this one just knocks me out. Notice the three longest arrows showing the main invasion routes of the liberators. The two on the right show the route of the U.S.Seventh Army heading north from the landings on the Mediterranean coast. The arrow on the left is the route of First French Army. The U.S.7th and the French 1st were the two main divisions that fought in the Alsatian campaign.

Detail of the landings on the Mediterranean coast.  Note the tiny parachutist. Incredible graphics.

The Seventh Army's routes into Germany and finally Austria.

Engraved on a marble plaque was a listing of all the overseas American military cemeteries - we made it to three on this trip.






Finally, we depart. And driven by hunger (and Madonna), we headed our Citroën Picasso to the nearest shady lunch spot. The joys of renting a car include finding out-of-the-way places like the one below and being able to carry picnic supplies.

Oh yeah - baguette, cheese, a kind of salami called"rosette" and a glass of red. Note that we bring tablecloths and plastic wine glasses that disassemble for easy packing.

For the route home, we chose a scenic road, the D417 that passed through Gérardmer, through the mountains, over the 'Col de la Schlucht' (Mountain Pass of the Ravine, according to my German/English dictionary), through the town of Munster and ended up in Colmar.

The above is from an old map in my collection, bought in the late 60's or early 70's. It is an old tourist map meant to show all the castles, and castle ruins, in the area. An awful lot of them, as you can see! And this is only part of the map. The road we took that day is the really wiggly one a bit to the left. Detail below.

If your eyes are very good, you can see "vers (to) 
Gérardmer" at the top from whence we came. And then the road passes by a lake ("lac"), wiggles its way over the crestline alongside a deep ravine (the word "Schlucht" is there) and finally descends curvaciously to Munster.




You just know that when a road looks like the intestines  in your old biology text, you are in for an exciting ride.


Here's my rendition of our route.

And here's what we saw from the mountain pass looking down into the ravine.

We drove through a rock arch.

On the under side of the arch, the pink stone of the Vosges Mountains is clearly visible. It was used to build many castles, churches, and the impressive Cathedral of Strasbourg. You'll be seeing lots of that pink stonework in future posts.

Next to the arch was an inviting little stone path/stairway with a handrail leading up the side of the arch and over, only to end up in this uneven rough stone descent on the downside. I felt tricked.


Another moment in my life when I wished for just a little mountain goat DNA.

Finally down the mountain, and at the outskirts of Colmar, we turned onto the main road north to our hotel.  At the 'rond-point' (rotary) near Colmar, we saw Lady Liberty.

But, of course! The sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi was a native of Colmar and there is a museum dedicated to his work in that city. Luckily cars can circle the rotary as many times as necessary to get a good photo. And luckily Fran was much better with focusing while in orbit than I was. Many attempts were deleted, but here are the best.

You may remember another of Bartholdi's famous statues from Chapter 3b Baptism of History (and lions) - the Lion of Belfort. The structure inside of Lady Liberty was designed by the famous French engineer, Gustave Eiffel.


We are very familiar with Bartholdi's work on the outside of the Statue of Liberty. Not so much with Eiffel's contribution to the inside of this national symbol. Here are the technical drawings below.

Time for Ms. Liberté and I to wave good-bye. On the road again tomorrow.  Au revoir!