I arrived at the main gate of what was once known as 2 Wing Grostenquin France at about 4:30 in the afternoon of Wednesday, 9 May 2001. In the photos you can see that the main gate is open. After taking the few pictures of the main gate and seeing the right side boarded up, I was simply going to drive in and help myself to an extended photo taking session. A French Sergeant driving his red VW Jetta came down the road. but as I said before I was dressed in a dark blue pinned striped business suit. I did not feel like an intruder as I was dressed in a dark blue pinned striped business suit. I introduced myself "en francais" and told him what I would like to do. He told me the base was closed and he wasn't sure if I could get in that day. I immediately said in English some explanation that I was only here for the day and that I was staying in Metz. He seemed to grasp my situation very well and appeared to be very obliging.
As luck would have it, his superiors soon arrived at the main gate. They stopped and he explained the situation to them. I handed my passport to the driver with the two bars on his epaulette when he asked what nationality I was. Then between them it was decided that the Sergeant could take me for a tour immediately. The officers left, my Sergeant phoned from the exterior of the gate house to someone inside and then directed me to get into his car. While I was getting my camera from my car he was on a cell phone.
I almost thought he didn't want me to take pictures, but every time I said "that would be a good photo" he stopped and usually gave me a brief explanation. It sounded like he knew the location and names of buildings well. One picture that I did not take was of the ME Section garages. They were in a line like car garages along a road behind the hangars but were filled with fire wood. The entrances were open but full of wood. I think I had a feeling that enough was enough. The next shot in the sequence was of the canteen. As I recall the canteen was at the junction of this garage road and the road that lead to the main gate.
Later during the tour which he controlled taking me to places that he thought were significant, I asked if he was married because it was a long tour. He said "yes" and then I said we should stop because he would be late for supper. He said he had already explained to her that he would be late because he was showing the base to a Canadian. "To a Canadian"- it could have been anyone of us. I felt honoured that I represented "a Canadian".
That tour was at least 45 minutes driving around in a sky blue van on roads that looked like large walking paths just wide enough for one French vehicle. These were all behind the hangars. The first part of the tour was out to the three squadron headquarters buildings. We drove by the parking places for the jets. That was eerie! One patch of runway south of the main runway was under about 6 inches of water for about 100 feet. He said there was a lot of water in the area when suddenly a hawk flew out of the bushes beside us. He commented that there is a lot of wildlife on the base and even wolves. He said the Canadians planted many trees. There were a lot of tall trees beyond the main runway. There were a few abandoned light beige coloured Army vehicles near the runway which he said belonged to some other Army that had been training there.
He said the base had been abandoned for 20 years and left to the locals and then in the 80's the French Air Force took possession with a small contingent (25 personnel). You will see in a photo a new tower beside the last hangar near the red Canadian maple leaf on the mound of grass. This hangar is furthest from the recreational buildings. Another comment that he made during the tour that caught my attention was that when Canadians come to visit the base, they cry! I had already had that experience on Tuesday around 2:30pm at Air Div in Metz. Neither of us commented on his statement! There must be other photographers and past visitors out there!