Thanks JW. I had no idea that about all these battle sites are so well maintained & preserved. Northern France is quite rural, filled with crops, and the sites are much less endangered it seems than U.S. Civil War sites. Hmm.

Thanks Sarah, we’ve had lovely travels and are now headed back. It’s been a great experience!

Thanks Jane, it’s been great. We are still on the go. I know you will have a great time as well in France in July. So much to see!

Thanks Naomi, it’s a bucket list kind of experience for sure — and I’m sharing it with my parents and my husband too — so nice.

Thanks Ti, yes it is quite moving. The losses were astounding, and the ages of those who died were so young. Many seemed mowed down by machine gun fire and others by chemical warfare, ohhh it really was savage, and awful and sad. It feels like with WWI the Allies held the line in northern France just at the last moment, otherwise what would have happened? Paris would have fallen and more casualties and maybe the world would look different.

Thanks Carmen for your words. There’s so much here to see and it is all quite staggering to think about. We have gone from the fighting of WWI and Armistice of 1918 straight into the battles of WWII and now the invasion of France with D-Day and thereafter. It’s been illuminating for sure. Trying to get some good pics.