 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Q.
There are WWII tours being offered at a lower price than those being
operated by Historic Tours. Why should I go with Historic Tours?A. Many travel agents and general interest tour operators are trying to "cash in" on the interest generated by the 65th anniversary of D-Day, Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. These companies simply sub-contract with companies which have little or no experience in WWII tours, but offer low prices for inferior tours.
In fact in many cases your "English Speaking Guide" may be visiting Normandy for the first time on your tour! Ray finds Americans on poorly planned and operated tours every day on the Normandy beaches. He tries to help them or their frantic "Guides" but it is often too late to correct the "once in a lifetime" trip planned by many Americans. These poorly planned tours may indeed by less expensive, but tour members often have unsatisfactory experiences and go home very unhappy.
If you wish to make a general interest "If it's Tuesday, if must be Belgium" type of tour which happens to visit Normandy for a night or two, then Historic Tours should not be your tour operator. If however you wish to thoroughly enjoy your tour and go home knowing that the information you received in accurate, complete and given from an American point of view, then you should travel with Historic Tours.
Q.
Is there a qualified historian to relate the American role in the areas
which we visit?A. Ray Pfeiffer is America’s most experienced World War II Historian/Tour Director. In addition to the Master of Science degree and Professional Certificate from the American Tour Management Institute which Ray holds, he has personally guided over 8,000 tour members throughout Europe and Australia.
Historic Tours does not utilize local guides who know little or nothing about the American role in World War II. Ray relates the war through from the Tour Director’s seat at the front of our bus, with on-site presentations such as walking on Omaha Beach or on the streets of Paris. Ray makes presentations on some evenings at our hotels when he utilizes detailed maps to explain the areas we visit and he answers questions from our tour members.
Of course Ray is also a veteran – but that is not enough – his years of experience offer insights which no other company can offer. In addition to Ray's experience with the thousands of veterans who have related their personal on-site experiences, Ray's historical references include such famous books as : "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William L. Shirer, "A Time For Trumpets" and "The Battle of the Huertgen Forest" by Charles B. MacDonald, "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan, "Is Paris Burning?" by Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre, "D-Day" and "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose (of the National D-Day Museum).
Please go to our "Links" page to view the "Thank you America" certificates being given by the Embassy of France to all American veterans who served in France during WWII.
The
French people in every area of France – Normandy, Paris, Brittany, Provence,
the Riviera and Lorraine have done incredible things to extend the warmest
hospitality to all of our tour members. Parades, receptions, monument
dedications have all been arranged at the French people’s expense. They know
the debt they owe America. As America’s oldest ally, French army and naval
forces helped America to win the battle of Yorktown - which was the deciding
battle of the American War of Independence. The Statue of Liberty was given
to the American people with funds raised by French school children.
France is the worlds #1 tourist destination, yet sometimes Americans travel to France expecting to meet rude, unfriendly people. So if they have perhaps a problem ordering a meal or getting directions due to language problems, they assume that the French don't like them because they are Americans. In fact, many Americans travel to France without learning to speak even a word of French and then believe that all of the French people can speak English, but choose not to speak it.
This is just not so – only about 30% of the French speak any English – remember France had a huge worldwide empire and French is spoken on every continent. When we tell our French friends that the perception of the French by many Americans is that they don't like Americans, the French are always shocked and dismayed. We can assure all of our tour members that this stereotype of the French people being unfriendly will be disproved during our tour.
All of our members who believed that the French were going to be unfriendly go home saying something like this: "I'm going to tell so-and-so that they were totally wrong about the French and I can't wait until I can return to France – it's beautiful and the people are great"!
Two
American WWII veterans who traveled with Historic Tours after receiving
commemorative medals and honorary citizenship from the mayor of Ste.
Marie-du-Mont, France. Neither of the veterans had even served in Normandy,
but the French people wanted to express their gratitude to all Americans for
their liberation. This is the typical of the way all of veterans are
received in France. Ray Pfeiffer is seen just behind them. A champagne
reception in the town hall had just been enjoyed by tour members. Ste.
Marie-du-Mont was the center of the attack by the 101st Airborne Division.
The truth about how the French people feel about America. Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article.
A. NO. This is the norm with many companies and is a key to a successful tour- your Tour Director could be visiting the sites on the tour for the first time! Again ask to actually speak with the Tour Director -not just a "Tour Escort". If you are told that it is not possible to do so, you be can certain that you do not wish to book with such a company.
A. The distance from Sword Beach on the left flank of the invasion to Utah Beach on the right flank is 55 miles! In addition it takes 4 hours to drive from Paris to Normandy. So any day-trip from Paris will spend 8 hours on the highway! Operation Overlord was a gigantic undertaking and it is simply not possible to make a meaningful visit to the invasion beaches and the inland areas in one or even two days.
Historic Tours visits the British beaches including Pegasus Bridge, but we concentrate mostly on the American beaches and on the areas where our airborne forces fought. Our itineraries for visiting these areas have been perfected over the 24 years we have worked in Normandy. We can assure you that any tour, which spends less than 3 or 4 days in Normandy, will leave you unsatisfied.
A. Ray and Cristy Pfeiffer will personally guide and direct our tour and no one – no one has more experience as WWII Tour Directors than they do. They have a combined experience of 50 years in directing over 8,000 Americans on WWII Commemorative Tours – and you can be assured that your tour will focus on the American role and will be historically accurate, educational and sensitive to the needs of veterans and their families and interested parties.
Q.
I am afraid that our tour will be inflexible and will not allow tour members
to visit areas where individuals may want to visit a "special place" where
perhaps a family member was wounded or where a certain unit may have fought.A. Cristy and Ray always talk with tour members by phone prior to every tour and ask if there is such a place which they may wish to visit. In addition a space is available on the Reservation Form to make such a request. We have accomplished amazing things since 1983 in re-uniting Americans with families in Europe they may not have seen since the war, such as finding foxholes and buildings in which veterans may have fought.
We take great care to assist tour members in finding graves in the various American military cemeteries, which we visit. Cristy and Ray arrange with the cemetery superintendent in advance for flowers to be available to place on the grave and we arrange for a solemn ceremony to take place to honor the deceased. If a tour member wishes to visit a grave privately, we find out the location of the grave prior to the tour and then direct and/or escort the tour member to the grave.
A. We stay only at the finest hotels available in all areas. We stay at only Deluxe Class and First Class hotels which have all the modern amenities found at American hotels. Our hotels are modern and have elevators and often have swimming pools, massage service and fitness centers. Of course all of our hotels include private bathrooms.
Our menus are handpicked months in advance by Cristy and they are of the highest quality and feature local specialties. Cristy and Ray are well known by the staff of the restaurants and we take great care to make certain that pitchers of water and plenty of good European bread and butter are placed on our tour members’ tables. In addition we include a buffet breakfast daily – these are expensive (about $20 daily) but we include them every day.
Cristy and Ray also tip the hotel and restaurant staff generously to assure the best of service for our tour members – few other tour companies do this. Cristy and Ray work closely with the restaurant staffs to assure speedy service, yet a comfortable dining experience.
Our dinners are scheduled to begin at a reasonable time following our days activities.
A. No, our tours are designed with seniors in mind and include some very short walking tours such as on Omaha or Utah Beaches and on the Ile de la Cite in Paris.
A. One of the signs of a well-planned tour is the absence of long drives and a minimum of hotel changes. Our tours are designed with the comfort and safety of our tour members being the most important factors.
Our tours usually spend at least two nights in every area and in Normandy we normally spend three or four nights in one hotel – from which we make day trips. Occasionally we may have a day where we spend just one night in a hotel – but this is the exception to the rule.
Q.
I don't want to go on a "graveyard tour."A. Our tours are designed to not only visit the areas of importance relating to World War II, but also to see some of the most beautiful areas of Europe. We stay in wonderful hotels and most tours include a dinner cruise on the Seine in Paris – this is one of Europe’s most romantic experiences.
Normandy, Paris, Clervaux, the Rhine, Berchtesgaden and Munich are some of Europe’s most scenic areas. Our tours allow enough time to just enjoy sitting in a café, shopping or perhaps enjoying an art museum or the Bayeux Tapestry. Our veterans are often heard to say "It was worth fighting for"!
A. Our tours are designed with flexibility and the areas we visit are some of the most beautiful in the world.
In addition to the history, the architecture of Europe is something which can not be seen in the USA, the restaurants and shopping are superb and the areas such as Normandy, Paris and Luxembourg are not only historic but romantic as well.
Many couples have traveled on our World War II Commemorative Tours to celebrate an anniversary we have even had newlyweds spend their honeymoon on our tours!
The dinner cruise which we feature in Paris is one of the world’s great experiences. Many of the ladies who have traveled with us and had their doubts about their interest in the tour, quickly changed their minds and joined in our tour experiences whole heartedly