Day 22 Tuesday 27 th October Tours to Normandy near St Lo

Day 21 Monday 26 th October Day trip by train to the city of Tours

15 min walk through the village to the train station which had a restricted  commuter train service to Tours.  The train ride took just 10 min . Tours is well organized for tourists ( gateway to the Chateaux) This museum of Fine Arts was open today , much to our surprise, as Monday is usually closing day for many . This huge cedar Lebanon tree greeted us in the courtyard of this former Archbishop 's palace.

Andy liked this fountain of an upturned boat which greeted us as we left the station.

This is Fritz the stuffed elephant , he had his own story in the museum - 

The museum had acquired a Marc Chagall painting 

Icarus 's fall having flown too close to the sun  1887 

Diana goddess of hunting cut a fine figure 

Picasso  The rape of the Sabine women 1962 

The marble statues were exquisitely carved  This from the Regency was acquired in 1952

Two huntresses at rest in the style of Falconet 1716-92 

Bust of a man by Georges Delperrier  1894 

 1855 Large rustic group carving by Avisseau - imitation of nature 

Henri Martin  1912 ' Leaving Easter Mass in the direction of Labastide du Vert'. Martin, famed for pointillism,  painted his house 

One of the few women painters  Genevieve Asse 'Horizons ' 1975 

Japanese painter Toshimitsu Imai  'Vagues '1982 
Olivier Debre's   painting of the grey blue  Loire 1976  (  Andy really liked this  ) He has his own museum in Tours which was closed until Wednesday -unfortunately 😞

 Claude Monet 1896  'A branch of the Seine near Vetheuil ' 

We visited the HUGE Tours gothic cathedral next.

Stunning stained glass windows in rich jewel colours 

We walked to the centre of the mediaeval village 

We ate lunch  outside a boulangerie  under cover, one of the sandwiches we bought.  When the rain became heavier , we took refuge in a bar where we had coffee and beer . There are some very posh Parisian  shops in Tours . We took a peek at the Loire in full flow. We would both recommend visiting here. The architecture generally is beautiful to gaze at.

We headed back to the Aire for a peaceful evening. 

Day 20 Sunday 25 th October Oradour sur Glane

 Visit to the Oradour  village near Limoges an hour from Chris's house , he joined us for the  trip.  The whole village was murdered by the SS on 10 th June 1944 ; 643 inhabitants were killed  in reprisal for the killing of 2 German soldiers by the Resistance earlier that week. The General who ordered the massacre was  subject to a court martial, yet managed to escape after his trial and died of natural causes in his 80's . The village was large,  prosperous and untouched by the war until this happened. 243 women and 205 children, the youngest 10 days old , were herded into a church with an explosive which set fire to the church. Anyone who tried to escape was machine gunned.

General de Gaulle visited after the war . The soldiers  set fire to and razed the village to the ground to destroy any evidence.De Gaulle  decreed nothing would be touched as a memorial to those who died.

This was the fair ground where 643  villagers were held in the hot sun  for several hours whilst soldiers scoured the nearby hamlets to bring more inhabitants in. They were told it was an identity check. The mood  was light hearted having received this assurance from the soldiers . The men and the  women and children were separated out into various  barns and the church. The village was very busy that afternoon as men had come into the village to pick up their tiny tobacco ration. The whole massacre  took  just 6 hours. 

Mass burials of those who could not be identified were placed in  a large communal grave tomb  in the village cemetery 

The infant school where displaced children were being  taught in the village  were all murdered 

One of the many places where men were separated out  then  herded into and executed , it was systematic , methodical and cruel. 5  men survived by hiding under the pile of bodies and eventually  made their escape ;  soldiers  killed  the wounded who moved or made a sound.

Mme Bouchard says she has no idea how she scaled the wall behind the altar  to escape , sheer fear she thought  and  survived a 10 foot drop the other side 

A pram chassis on the altar 

This is the window on the lower left where the only survivor  escaped with her life ;  women and children who had been herded into this church were suffocated from the smoke of an explosive device wheeled in or machine gunned if they tried to escape 

We had lunch with Chris in a cafe in the new Oradour village and said our goodbyes.

We drove 3.5 hours north to a small  aire at Saint Genouph on the edge of a quiet village  in a flower growing area. La Riche. 

Day 19 Saturday 24th October

 A delightful day wandering around the local farmers market  and a local artists exhibition with Chris  in their nearest large village  (Nontron) and strong coffee in the bar cafe Le Trotteur in the square sheltering from a downpour. We walked 2 of  the dogs with Chris in the afternoon for 2 hours ( well done Bertie ) and made a Ribolitta for supper with the veg from the market. 

Pansy's chair 

The Limetrees hamlet 

local wash house in earlier times. The neighbourhood hosts a meet your neighbours once a year here ,30 came to the one this year in July 

Bertie 

Chris checking the new route .Pansy  with Andy and Bertie in the foreground

One of the stalls in the local artists exhibition 

Chris and Yvette's cottage 

Day 18 Friday 23 rd October Aurillac to the Dordogne

 Staying with Andy's University friend Chris and his wife Yvette , and their three dogs, Pansy, Daisy and Bertie at their farm house in the Limetrees hamlet near Nontron, for a couple of nights.  Apparently the law in France has just changed, every house now  has to have a number and a street  address, hence the Limetrees designation

It's very cozy with a big swimming pool for increasingly common heatwave 

Trying to get into the  apple tarte packaging 🙂

Day 17 Thursday 22nd October La Cavalerie to Aurillac

I love the independent shoe shops in French cities, this was called Victors near the Old Town ,15 mins walk from our quiet suburban camping site 

Pretty old town with river Jordanne 

running through it 

 Impressive weir 

Day 16 Wednesday 22 nd October Bezier to Frontignen La Cavalerie Bezier to aire overnight