We leave NEXT month! Just 36 Days!

Today I booked a car for three days in the Provence area.  It is a Mini Ford Ka and supposedly holds four people, so it should hold the two of us and our two carryon pieces of luggage.  Sure looks tiny though, pretty cute!  Anyway, we will pick it up our last day in Avignon.  Therefore, we will have it for our use during our time in Arles.  We will drop it off in Avignon the day we depart for Paris.  Having the car will give us the opportunity to see more countryside in this area and visit a few wineries.  We will also use it when we visit Pont du Gard, which is the oldest Roman Bridge/Aqueduct in the world.   You will probably remember it from a Volkswagen commercial! There is so much to see in around this area that we can't possibly see it all on the five days we will have but I want John to at least see some of the sites I saw in 2000, along with some new explorations for the two of us.  Certainly we won't need the car for the first few days as we will explore Avignon on foot and public transportation if need be.   

Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint Avold, France

Thanks to a cousin we have the information needed to visit the grave  site of yet another cousin who died during WWII.  Of course we did not know him but he was cousin to my mother.  My mother and many of her cousins, along with her brother my beloved uncle, joined the military to do their duty during those difficult times.  Sadly, this cousin Robert L. Glos never came home.  He was a gunner, as was another cousin, and his plane was shot down over Europe.  Story has it that some of the men had parachuted out but Bob did not.  Later, after the war, the pilot came to see his mother and father.  He said that the plane took a direct  hit right in the area that Bob was and he thought Bob died instantly. The pilot told them what a great guy he was and respected by all.  I see this as little consolation when you have lost a son.  The cost of a war is never forgotten by those who have paid such a price.  His mother wanted his body brought home but his father was against it stating that they would never be sure it was really him.  As my mother stated, "Things do get mixed up during a war" and of course there was no DNA testing back then.  Thankfully, his mother was able to visit his grave site at Lorraine American Cemetery before her death, along with his sister and niece.  Therefore, I was able to receive the information as to the location and contact information.  We did want to visit a cemetery from this era and what one would be better than this?  We have received very accommodating and kind emails from Lorraine Cemetery since our first contact.  They have offered to pick us up at the train station, drive us to the cemetery and escort us to the grave site.  We can also preorder flowers for the grave, which we will do.  We have been invited to attend a Memorial Day Ceremony on May 24, which will consist of a one hour service at the cemetery followed by a pick nick" in the nearby city of Saint Avold.  We planned to be leaving for our cousins in the south of France that day but we are trying to see if we can change our plans and visit for that ceremony instead of a day in June as we first planned. 

In part, here was some touching information we also received from my cousin: "IT IS A VERY EMOTIONAL PLACE, IT IS AMAZING.  THANK YOU FOR GOING TO VISIT BOB.  THE GENTLEMAN SAID FEWER AND FEWER RELATIVES ARE COMING BECUASE THEIR PARENTS ARE ALL ABOUT PASSED AWAY AND THEIR SIBLINGS ARE OLDER AND DON'T REALLY TRAVEL SO THANK YOU FOR GOING ON BEHALF OF OUR FAMILY.  THEY TOLD US ALL THE TREES AND PLANT MATERIAL THERE ARE FROM AMERCIA AND THE SOIL SO THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY BURIED IN AMERICAN SOIL JUST NOT 'ON' AMERICAN SOIL."