04/10/09

Day 26 – October 4
Today was always going to be a difficult day because of our decision to visit Oradour sur Glane. You have probably never heard of this place, and neither had we until a couple of years ago, but on 10 June 1944 it was the scene of an SS atrocity that took the lives of 642 townspeople in the most brutal way. The men were herded into separate areas of the town and simultaneously shot, and the women and children were barricaded in the church and then burned alive.
What makes this town special is that the whole place has been left exactly as it was, and it is in reality an open memorial to all those murdered that day. You can wander the streets amongst the burnt out buildings and see cars abandoned on the street, a set of scales and a coffee bean grinder in the grocers shop, metal furniture frames and prams, all rusting away but exactly where they were left. The tiles are still on the wall in the butchers shop, and the bread ovens are still visible in the bakers. What struck me too, was the number of sewing machines in many houses – we forget that almost every home had one all those years ago. There is a cemetery memorial to all those who died, and what really hits home is the number of victims all with the same family name. I won’t go on about this any more, suffice it to say that it is a very emotional place to visit.
We are staying at Saumur tonight, on the Loire, from where we are going to visit some of the chateaux along the river (much to Peter’s delight!) Our pitch is right by the side of the river, looking across the river to the chateau high up in the opposite bank. It looks amazing!
Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days, but there is a dearth of McDonalds in the area we have been in (is that possible??) so we have paid out for wi-fi on site tonight to bring you all up to date.