Saturday, I visited Bastogne and Manhay in the Ardennes, for the commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

We arrived in Gouvy the night before. The B&B was great and our hosts were really friendly. The nearby restaurant at the Brasserie Lupulus serves delicious beers with steak and fries.

When we left for Bastogne in the morning, it had just started snowing. This would make for great pictures!

We were lucky to find a parking spot at the Bastogne Barracks lot. Tanks and other vehicles and reenactors were everywhere. The German group with the horse-drawn “Gulashkanon” field kitchen sure deserved the prize for the most elaborate display, but the others were great too. GIs from all over Europe had come to Bastogne to fraternize. The big attention grabber was the Tiger II tank from Saumur, the only one still driving. A unique experience.

In the afternoon, we drove on to Manhay, where many vehicles and reenactors had also gathered. The fields behind the MHM44 museum had been taken over by tanks, and even a Bailey bridge had been put up. The tank from “Fury” was the star of the show.