In November, I accompanied Secrets and techniques of Paris Neighborhood Members on slightly tour to the western suburbs of Paris for a guided tour of the Lafayette Ecadrille Memorial, one of many area’s most stunning and least-known monuments to Franco-American friendship. Inbuilt 1928, the memorial shouldn’t be a conventional army cemetery with crosses on a garden, however a purpose-built architectural monument, centered on a monumental stone arch impressed by the Arc de Triomphe. It commemorates the younger American aviators who volunteered to fly for France a yr earlier than the U.S. formally joined World Warfare I, at a time when the nation was nonetheless formally impartial. The squadron took its identify from the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who fought alongside the American colonists throughout the Revolutionary Warfare. Selecting “Lafayette” was a deliberate symbolic gesture, linking American volunteers combating for France in 1916 to a French volunteer who had as soon as fought for American independence.
Right here’s the brief official video about it:
We began off with a go to to the small museum on the Customer Welcome Middle, the place we additionally met our information, Corneliu. He launched us to the creation of the French-American flying squadron, a number of the personalities who flew in it (like William “Massive Moustache” Thaw and Eugene Bullard, “The Black Swallow of Demise”), and even instructed us about their mascot, a lion cub who finally bought too large and ended up on the zoo within the Jardin des Plantes. The background was particularly useful, as it is a little-known chapter in American aviation historical past: many of the pilots had been of their mid-20s, many got here from rich or Ivy League backgrounds, and only some had any flying expertise earlier than the conflict. Having a information to stroll us by means of the context and reply questions made a giant distinction (because it all the time does).
Click on photographs to see full sized with captions.
After the introduction, Corneliu walked us throughout the huge garden to the monument itself. Hidden from avenue view within the forest of the Domaine de Saint-Cloud, the construction is fittingly majestic when it lastly comes into view. The central arch is precisely half the dimensions of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a symbolic echo slightly than a duplicate. On the day we had been there (November 14), flags had been at half-mast following the demise of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, and wreaths had just lately been positioned for the November 11 Veterans Day ceremony.
The monument is stuffed with particulars which are straightforward to overlook with out clarification. The inscriptions on the entrance are in French, with English translations on the again. The bottom of the arch is engraved with the names of the pilots, organized not alphabetically however within the order through which they joined the squadron, together with their decorations and dates of demise. Above us, carved into the roof of the arch, are the insignia of the 24 French air service squadrons through which Individuals flew throughout World Warfare I. On the entrance of the monument, a protracted reflecting pool mirrors the stone façade, emphasizing symmetry and stillness, slightly than mourning.
After an evidence of the various symbolic parts carved into the monument, we took the steps down into the crypt (be aware: there isn’t a various entry for guests with lowered mobility). Lately renovated after many years of decay, the crypt comprises 68 stone sarcophagi organized in a semi-circle. These signify aviators of the broader Lafayette Flying Corps—the group of Individuals who flew for France throughout the conflict—of which the Lafayette Escadrille itself was the unique squadron. A number of the sarcophagi are empty, both as a result of the stays had been by no means recovered or as a result of the pilots are buried elsewhere.
The stained-glass home windows within the crypt are small however placing. Created by the French atelier Frères Mauméjean, they depict particular Western Entrance operations flown by the Escadrille and associated items slightly than being purely ornamental (with nods to their departure from the homeland, search for the Statue of Liberty).
Sensible Data
Visits to the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial and the Customer Middle museum are freed from cost. All data is accessible in English and French, and there are free restrooms. The positioning has been run by the American Battle Monuments Fee (ABMC) since 2017, and anybody can request a non-public tour in English with an ABMC information. Entry to the crypt is just doable with a information, and far of the monument’s symbolism is straightforward to miss with out clarification, so reserving forward is nicely value it. There isn’t a price for the tour; you merely have to name upfront to order a time when a information is accessible: +33 (0)1 87 15 85 32.
Opening Hours
The Customer Middle on the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial is open day by day, year-round, from 9am to 5pm (closed December 25 and January 1). The monument and surrounding grounds are open day by day throughout the identical hours because the Domaine de Saint-Cloud: from 7:30am to 8pm November by means of February; till 9pm throughout September, October, March, and April; and till 10pm from Could by means of August.
Each Memorial Day the final week in Could there’s an elaborate ceremony with an aerial flyover. For particulars, go to the ABMC web site and (scroll to the underside of the web page for the most recent information):
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/about-lafayette-escadrille-memorial-cemetery/
Getting There from Paris
The official tackle is 5 Boulevard Raymond Poincaré, 92430 Marnes-la-Coquette, within the northwestern nook of the Domaine Nationwide de Saint-Cloud, a big park just a few miles west of central Paris.
Getting there by public transportation is comparatively easy. You possibly can take the “L” Transilien prepare from Gare St-Lazare to Garches–Marnes-la-Coquette, within the route of Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Forêt de Marly (about 35 minutes). From Garches station, you’ll be able to both stroll to the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial (about 10 minutes up the road, then one other 10 minutes contained in the park), or take bus 6246 (route Gare de Vaucresson) for 2 stops to Hôpital de Garches, immediately throughout from a park entrance.
An alternative choice is to take metro line 9 to Pont de Sèvres, then bus 426 (route La Celle-Saint-Cloud – Gare SNCF) to Yves Cariou – Les Étangs, which is the facet gate closest to the Customer Middle (about 25 minutes from Pont de Sèvres). All of those choices fall inside the usual Île-de-France fare zones, so a daily Navigo or single ticket applies.
You possibly can obtain the memorial brochure right here and you’ll see the 360° digital go to right here, together with contained in the burial crypt.
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