This morning the main tour group was invited to a guided walk around the flower and vegetable market in Nice. Since Maury and I had been there yesterday, we went early by ourselves and marveled at the beautiful bouquets and produce. There were some wonderful smelling spice stands and also lavender product stands with very reasonable prices.
There was time for only a little more shop browsing and lunch. I went back to Galleries Lafayette to buy a scarf. Lunch was another quick boulangerie stop (though quite good).
Everyone boarded the big coach bus by 1:30 and we set off for Arles, which is about 3-4 hours away from Nice. To make the journey kinder, and also because travelers have highly rated this relatively new stop that the tour company has been doing since 2004, we made a 1-hour stop in Draguignan (still in Provence) at the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial.
Quote from the brochure:
"The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion entered Draguignan on August 16, 1044 1944, joined next day by elements of the 36th Infantry Division. A temporary American cemetary was established here on August 17, 1944. The French government has granted free use of the land as a permanent burial ground without charge or taxation."
Most people don't know that not only was there a US landing at Normandy during WWII, there was one in Provence, Operation Dragoon. I hope I don't mess up the details, but the American's objective was to clear the coastal towns (including the strategically important military harbor of Toulon) for French forces to follow, then push up the Rhone valley and meet up with General Patton's Third Army within two months. They did it in six weeks.
The grounds are overseen by the smallest independent agency under the United States executive branch, the American Battle Monuments Commission. There are 861 headstones at the site, and the superintendent, Bruce, had very detailed knowledge about many of the residents. The story that stood out to me the most was the one concerning the headstone with a single red rose. A young 17 year old girl in America lost the 19 year old love of her life during the war, and did not discover that he had died until about eight years ago. Ever since, she's flown to France to visit the grave each summer and during the rest of the year she calls a local florist and arranges to have a single rose placed at the gravesite every month. She is now in her eighties.
Grand Circle Travel (the tour company) purchases a wreath to lay on a grave every year, a very nice gesture. In the memorial chapel I noticed a wreath from Wreaths Across America, the group that is also responsible for donating wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. It was all a very moving visit.
The rest of the evening, we were only responsible for getting on the boat, unpacking if you wanted to, and then having dinner! The staff and captain of the ship are all very friendly and eager to assist. Dinner was very wonderful and Maury and I have continued to meet very pleasant and funny co-passengers.
There will be safety drill in the morning.
A bientot!
-Dani
P.S. Want to see our room???
My home for the next week!
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