CONTENTSVOLUME I

REMAINS OF THE FEUDAL CASTLE AND THE GALLERY LEADING THITHER.

MARKET-DAY IN THE GRAND’ PLACE AT FÈRE.

Return to and cross throughFère,leaving the market-place on the right.Return, by the road previously taken, to the fork atCoulonges,and take G. C. 14 on the right toChamery. This village was reconquered by the Americans on July 31, 1918, in spite of the enemy’s strenuous efforts to keep it.

At the entrance to Chamery, where the road turns to the right, follow on foot the path leading to thegrave of Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, which is about 300 yards further on.

After Chamery, turn to the left, towardsCierges.

On the left of the road isReddy Farm, which was taken by the Americans on August 1, 1918, after sharp fighting.

The tableland on the right was used as an aviation camp.

LIEUTENANT QUENTIN ROOSEVELT’S GRAVE AT CHAMERY (see above).

RUINED CHURCH AT CIERGES.

Ciergesis reached soon afterwards. This village is extremely ancient, many Gaulish and Gallo-Roman objects having been unearthed there. It was captured by the Americans (32nd Division) on July 31, as well as Sergy, which the 42nd Division lost and retook three times.

Take the road to the right, toCourmont,crossing the Ourcq River. There are some American gravesat the fork before entering Courmont.In front of the ruined church, turn to the left.

Before leaving the village, turn again to the left, then at the fork, 500 yards beyond the village, take the road on the right toCharmel. The road passes through a wood, cut to pieces by the shells. German artillery was installed there. At the other side is the road which leads to theCastle of Charmel, about 300 yards distant. The castle, which is magnificently situated, overlooks (to the North) the vast plain which spreads out between the extreme points of the Forests of Fère and Ris and (to the South) the valley of the Marne.

THIS WAS THE VILLAGE CHURCH AT COURMONT.

CHARMEL CASTLE.

It was to this castle that, before dying, the Bishop of Metz,Pierre Bédacier, summonedBossuet(future Bishop of Meaux), and gave up in favour of the latter, the Priory of Gassicourt-les-Mantes, in the Diocese of Chartres, of which he was the Senior Prior. Bossuet had considerable difficulty in getting the transfer ratified and was accused of having acted fraudulently by those who disputed his claims.

The cemetery is near by. At the entrance to the village is one of the familiar Michelin “Merci” signs (to be found in most localities in France) which indicate the name of the village and the number of the road.

BARRICADE AT THE ENTRANCE TO CHARMEL VILLAGE.

THE GRAND’ PLACE AT JAULGONNE.

Placed at both ends of the villages on the great touring routes, these signs, in addition to the information above mentioned, bear the request “Mind the Children,” on one side, and “Merci” (Thanks) on the other.

Leave the church on the right, keep to the left, then take the road on the right (G. C. 3), which leads towards the valley of the Marne.Very fine view along the zig-zag, down-hill road to the river.

Jaulgonneis next reached.

From Courmont to Jaulgonne the road runs between the woods of Fère (to the west) and Ris (to the east), in the middle of the region which the Americans conquered from July 22, 1918, onwards.

CHARTÈVES CHURCH.

The fighting was extremely fierce throughout this region. To save their guns and organize their retreat the Germans stubbornly opposed the American advance. However, foot by foot, they were obliged to give way before the impetuous onrush of the Americans. From the 23rd to the 26th the latter, after a prolonged struggle, captured Charmel and the whole of the heights running parallel to the Marne. The German prisoners captured in Ris Wood declared that their orders were to hold out at all costs, to allow of a counter-attack by two divisions of the Guards. On the succeeding days

RUINED CHURCH AT MONT-ST.-PÈRE.

the Americans continued to clear the northern part of the wood, and finally drove the enemy back to the Ourcq, which was crossed on the 29th.

Pass throughJaulgonne,and keep straight on at the fork in the road on leaving the village. The road follows the Marne. Pass throughChartèves(photo p. 125),shortly after whichMont-St.-Pèreis reached.

AMERICAN CEMETERY AT MONT-ST.-PÈRE (1918).

GLAND VILLAGE IN RUINS.The Church is in the background.

GLAND VILLAGE IN RUINS.

The Church is in the background.

Mont-St.-Père.—In the village, at the fork of G. C. 4 (on the right, leading to Epieds) and G. C. 3 (leading to Château-Thierry), take the former for about 200 yards to a road on the left, which leads to the top of the hill, where stand the ruins of the church (photo p. 126) and castle.Leaving the car, which should return to the Château-Thierry road and wait at the exit of Mont-St.-Père, at the point where the lane from the Church of Mont-St.-Père rejoins the road to Château-Thierry, the tourist should go on foot to the church and castle.

On September 3, 1914, a French infantry regiment, retreating southwards, found Mont-St.-Père occupied by the Germans. Forcing their way through at the point of the bayonet, they crossed the Marne, and after destroying the bridge, continued their retreat.

After admiring theview,the tourist should descend the hill on the side opposite; on reaching the Château-Thierry road he will find his car waiting for him.

On the hillside to the right, on leaving Mont-St.-Père, there is an American cemetery (photo, p. 126).

The road continues to follow the Marne. Pass throughGland, leaving the church on the left.Braslesis reached soon afterwards. The church is on the right.

Throughout the whole of the region covered since leaving Jaulgonne the Americans fought with great bravery on both banks of the Marne.

On May 28, 1918, the second day of the German Offensive, the German High Command changed its original plans, which were to limit the operations to the taking of the heights south of the Vesle, and then to cause the fall of Soissons and Rheims. The Franco-British resistance on the two wings, and the rapid advance of the Germans in the centre, caused the German High Command to attempt the thrust towards the Marne. From May 29 to June 1 the centre of the 7th German Army made a dash for the Marne. On the evening of the 29th the Kommandant of the 231st Division declared that it was a “question of honour to reach the Marne to-morrow.” Two second line divisions (the 231st and 103rd) were interposed between the 10th and 28th on one side, and the 36th and 5th Guards on the other. It thus became a race to the Marne between these divisions. On May 30 the 231st reached the river at about two o’clock in the afternoon, between Brasles and Mont-St.-Père, while the 28th entered Jaulgonne at six in the evening.

RUINED CHURCH AT BRASLES.

On June 1 the Germans tried to get a footing on the heights on the south bank of the Marne. It has been seen that they were unable to cross the river at Château-Thierry, the bridge having been destroyed. At Jaulgonne a battalion of the 36th succeeded in crossing, on the nights of May 31 and June 1, only to be thrown back on the other side, or captured by Franco-American troops on the 2nd. On the 3rd the Germans gave up the attempt, and things quietened down in this sector, which the Americans continued to guard.

During the German “Peace Offensive” of July 15, the Americans (3rd Division) resolutely withstood the shock on the Marne. Behind a thick smoke curtain, and favoured by the night mists, German pioneers threw bridges over the river from Gland eastwards, along a twelve-mile front. About a dozen bridges, some of them 25 to 30 feet wide, were established. German engineers were particularly active in front of Mont-St.-Père, Jaulgonne, and Chartèves. At dawn, while the infantry were being taken across the river in boats and on pontoons worked by steel cables, the artillery crossed the bridges. French and American aviators, flying as low as 150 feet, raked the bridges and pontoons with machine-gun fire, while two of the bridges, struck by bombs, collapsed, throwing men, horses, and baggage into the river.

At great sacrifice the Germans succeeded in getting a footing on the southern slopes of the Marne. The objectives of their extreme right, starting from Chartèves, were points five to six miles south of the river. They were held up by the Americans. Of the 1,000 prisoners taken by the Allies during their counter-attack south of the Marne on July 15, 600 were captured by the Americans, who forced the Germans back over the river, west of Jaulgonne. To the east of that village the Germans advanced several kilometres south of the river. Part of the American front, facing eastwards, made a dogged resistance until July 20, in spite of enemy reinforcements. The 3rd American Division fought for nine consecutive days, and was only relieved by the 32nd Division on July 30.

The success of the Franco-American counter-attack of July 18, from Château-Thierry to Soissons, relieved the violent pressure on the Americans, and forced the Germans to retreat across the river. It was now the turn of the Americans to attack. On the 21st they crossed the river and occupied Mont-St.-Père, Chartèves, and Jaulgonne. On the 22nd, they captured the villages east of Jaulgonne, and continued their march towards the Ourcq.

The tourist has now gone over their field of action.

From Château-Thierry, return to Paris per the itinerary used for coming.

(On arriving at the fortifications of Paris, the tourist should present his “bulletin de réintroduction” at the “Octroi.")

SOISSONS IN NOVEMBER, 1918. NOTE THE SEPARATION OF THE CATHEDRAL TOWER FROM THE NAVE.

PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.BY ESSEX PRESS. INC., NEWARK, N. J.

BEAUTIFUL FRANCEParis and its environsPARIS—home of grandeur, elegance, and wit—plays a part in France probably unequalled in any other country, and may be considered, in many respects, as the chief city of Europe, and one of the greatest in the world. Above all, it possesses eminently national qualities which ten centuries of refinement and taste have handed down to contemporary France.It is impossible, in a few lines, to paint the exceptional charms of Paris which the whole world admires.Its vistas of the Champs-Elysées seen from the Tuileries and the Arc de Triomphe; of Notre-Dame and the point of the City Island seen from La Concorde Bridge; of the River Seine, the Institute, the Louvre, seen from the Pont-Neuf embankment; Notre-Dame and its quays, seen from the end of St. Louis Island; the panorama of the city seen from the top of Montmartre Hill; the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Boulogne itself, etc., etc.,—all are of incomparable beauty.The city’s historical monuments are of inestimable value, and the most famous art treasures are to be found in its Museums.The surroundings of Paris join the charm of their landscapes to the world-wide fame of their parks and castles:Versailles, whose palace and park recall the splendor of the Louis XIV. period, and where the “Trianons” have preserved graceful traces of the Court of Marie-Antoinette;St. Germainwith its castle and forest;St. Cloudand its park;Sèvresand its world-renowned art porcelain factory;La Malmaison, home of Bonaparte before he became Napoleon I.;Rambouillet,Fontainebleau,Chartreswith its marvelous cathedral,Maintenon,Dreux, etc.—all these form a girdle round Paris such as no other metropolis in the world can boast of.

BEAUTIFUL FRANCE

Paris and its environs

PARIS—home of grandeur, elegance, and wit—plays a part in France probably unequalled in any other country, and may be considered, in many respects, as the chief city of Europe, and one of the greatest in the world. Above all, it possesses eminently national qualities which ten centuries of refinement and taste have handed down to contemporary France.

It is impossible, in a few lines, to paint the exceptional charms of Paris which the whole world admires.

Its vistas of the Champs-Elysées seen from the Tuileries and the Arc de Triomphe; of Notre-Dame and the point of the City Island seen from La Concorde Bridge; of the River Seine, the Institute, the Louvre, seen from the Pont-Neuf embankment; Notre-Dame and its quays, seen from the end of St. Louis Island; the panorama of the city seen from the top of Montmartre Hill; the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Boulogne itself, etc., etc.,—all are of incomparable beauty.

The city’s historical monuments are of inestimable value, and the most famous art treasures are to be found in its Museums.

The surroundings of Paris join the charm of their landscapes to the world-wide fame of their parks and castles:Versailles, whose palace and park recall the splendor of the Louis XIV. period, and where the “Trianons” have preserved graceful traces of the Court of Marie-Antoinette;St. Germainwith its castle and forest;St. Cloudand its park;Sèvresand its world-renowned art porcelain factory;La Malmaison, home of Bonaparte before he became Napoleon I.;Rambouillet,Fontainebleau,Chartreswith its marvelous cathedral,Maintenon,Dreux, etc.—all these form a girdle round Paris such as no other metropolis in the world can boast of.

MICHELIN TOURING OFFICES———MICHELIN TYRE CO., Ltd., LONDONTouring Office::81, Fulham Road, S. W.MICHELIN & Cie, CLERMONT-FERRANDTouring Office::97, Boulevard Péreire, PARISWhy ask the Way, when . . . . .. . . . . Michelin will tell you free of charge?———Drop a line, ring us up, or call at one of ourTouring Offices and you will receive a carefullyworked-out description of the route to follow.

MICHELIN TOURING OFFICES———

MICHELIN TYRE CO., Ltd., LONDONTouring Office::81, Fulham Road, S. W.MICHELIN & Cie, CLERMONT-FERRANDTouring Office::97, Boulevard Péreire, PARIS

Why ask the Way, when . . . . .

. . . . . Michelin will tell you free of charge?

———

Drop a line, ring us up, or call at one of ourTouring Offices and you will receive a carefullyworked-out description of the route to follow.

Back to Index Next