France Again and Its Getting Late

After Bingen we take a few highways West and head towards the Southeast part of Luxembourg where Dad was stationed to guard the city for almost a full month between November to mid-December 1994 right before he was attached to Patton’s Army to help relieve Bastogne. I did not know it at the time but they were partially stationed there to attempt to shoot down V-1 rockets although V-2 rockets were now flying and were at a much higher altitude impossible to shoot with artillery. There units official records mention a significant number of V2 rocket sightings.

 

We discuss stopping but agree that we will try to get closer to Paris so we can get an early start there the next day. We drive on towards Metz enjoying the scenery as we pass the city of Luxembourg. Around Metz we catch the A4 highway which heads us pretty much straight back towards Paris but its getting late and at this latitude the summer sun stays up late enough to fool you into thinking its really early. We have no hotel reservations again. This is also the era of no cell phones so we are beginning to get a little worried. We are all getting a little restless because we have been in the car so long today. We have likely been driving 6-8 hours and counting.

We pull over to a gas station to fill up, grab a quick snack, and we grab a few pamphlets. We are nearing Reims which is a large city but I really do not know this area of France at all from previous travels so we discuss what to do. Basically its between “head to Paris” arrive real late and take our chances or find something nearby. I see in the pamphlet something about a a town Chalons-sur-Marne and it looks like a good shot as its a short way of the highway. Here we go as we get off A4 and head towards Chalons-sur-Marne I see a bunch of cafes lining the highway with people outside and large buckets of empty champagne bottles turned upside down. O.k., looks good! It turned out this was their nearby grape harvest celebration and we are in the Champagne district region. Chalons-sur-Marne has been renamed since we visited by the government to Chalons-en-Champagne. Maybe a smart Chamber of Commerce move to attract tourists?

If anyone is curious check out the the Charlie Brown Great pumpkin episode where when Snoopy is shot down by the Red Baron he crawls past a sign indicating its 70km to Chalons-Sur-Marne. Nice!

 

 

Next: Chalons sur Marne