The Martyred Town

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Today we drove two hours North (near Limoges) with our friends to visit Oradour sur Glane which until 10 June 1944 had been a well-situated, prosperous market town.

On that fateful day at two p.m. German soldiers arrived and proceeded to round up all of the inhabitants.

Before the day had ended they had deliberately massacred 642 men, women and children and systematically destroyed 328 buildings.

A tragedy unparalleled in the annals of the war.

The town was never rebuilt (in fact a new town was eventually built adjacent to the site) and has been a living memorial to this tragedy.

As you can see from the following pictures, virtually everything is as found the day after the massacre.

You are able to walk through the ruined town and see the totality of the destruction.

While a trial was eventually held in 1953, after an investigation lasting nine years only two officers were sentenced to death and 21 other participants were given minimum jail terms. Following the trial they were released from prison and even those condemned to death were pardoned shortly afterwards. Finally, a Lieutenant Barth (who had commanded the German troops the fateful day) was located in East Germany in 1981. A trial resulted in a verdict of life imprisonment. He expressed no regrets and stated he had only been following Orders.

Let us not forget them.

Lucky in Souillac!

Lucky in Souillac!

It’s okay kids, it’s not what you think…a pigeon decided to s**t on my shoulder and Graeme says that means I will be blessed with good luck.

Today, we decided to go to Souillac for a different view.

We travelled by bus from Gare de Gourdon to Gare de Soulliac.

Graeme saw beautiful vistas enroute, but I was strapped in for dear life as the driver was busy chatting with another passenger with his eyes off the road, and all the while exceeding the speed limit. The route from Gourdon to Souillac is full of sharp, sweeping curves and turns.

We arrived early morning 9:40AM, and then headed down hill from the train station to Centre Ville about 2.5Km; sauntered around the Ancient Quarters. Town was quiet, not peak tourist season with many closed establishments and properties for sale.

One of the main attractions in Souillac is the Abbey Sainte-Marie. The original abbey was built in the 12th century. We peeked inside only for a few minutes as approx. 100 children were visiting on a school trip.

“Souillacs’ situation on the road between Toulouse and Paris, on the river Borrèze and close to the river Dordogne led to the development of the town. It was surrounded by a defensive wall with five entrances. However the town and particularly the abbey suffered in the wars of religion. In the 17th century the benedictine monks rebuilt the monastic buildings next to the abbey. The abbey has beautiful domes in the same style as the cathedral at Perigueux. Inside are some excellent Romanesque sculptures.”… Excerpt from the Dordogne Travel Guide.

Additionally in the old part of town is a medieval bell tower, part of which collapsed in 1828.

Every where we travel, it never ceases to amaze us how the French almost torture the trees to make them grow the way they want. They prune the limbs to such a degree you would think the tree would never recover. Yet the trees thrive.

After lunch, walked uphill to the Train Station…and travelled back to Gourdon by train…I found the return trip more enjoyable.

Time Flies, But Who's Counting

Time Flies, But who’s counting…Maybe me or both of us.

It was just another Monday; it’s actually our fourth one since we arrived in  France on March 1^st.

I awoke earlier than normal today who knows why, and had all of my household chores (cleaning) done by 9AM and then showered and got on Graeme’s case to go to the Wi-Fi Café for a coffee and check email, etc. 

On our way we met some of the neighbors, who live in a beautifully restored home with lovely gardens, just a couple doors down from us on the steps that we take to the next lower level of the tiered streets. They are French but both he and she have a very good command of the English language.

Coincidentally, we spoke with him this past Saturday at the Market.  

At first, we ignored him because the market was busy with campaigning politicians; but he said he was a good politician promoting the wine fair…he is the organizer of the event and says the purpose is to “peek the interest”.

They are lovely and interesting people.

By the time we got to the Café it was 11:30AM and we ordered our coffees, did some emails and blogging. I couldn’t figure out why the café was so busy this early for lunch and they were already serving; very unusual.

We sauntered home, had our lunch and then trekked again to the large Supermarket on the Route de Fumel; (one of the furthest ones away).

We were not great walkers before we came, but we are getting better at it and need to do this in this country to burn off all the calories consumed. Walking home, past the hospital Graeme commented that the clock time was different by one hour…had the clocks changed?

So, we checked the Church clock also and of course it was actually 4:30 not 3:30 …that’s why there were so many people in the Café eating today…the time had changed to daylight savings and we had lost an hour.

But really, though, it’s hard to believe that we are coming up to a month here already.

Normally, on our previous trips to France which were only a month in length, we would be scrambling to go here and there.

We must make a return trip to Collioure (our favorite place on the Mediterranean, near the Spanish border) or where will we go?..... to Arles, Avignon, Cannes, Carcassonne, Nice, or where will we venture?…There are so many places to see.