{"id":5349,"date":"2024-07-13T07:25:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T07:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=5349"},"modified":"2025-12-24T22:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T22:26:46","slug":"13-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=5349","title":{"rendered":"13. TRAGEDY."},"content":{"rendered":"

It transpires that we are camped less than 30 km from Oradour-sur-Glane.\u00a0 The martyred village.\u00a0 We’ve visited before, but it’s such a moving place, we want to go again.<\/p>\n

In the morning of 10 June 1944, almost exactly 80 years ago, SS soldiers rounded up the entire population of the village In the market square.\u00a0 Then they separated the villagers by gender.\u00a0 The 197 men were taken to several barns on the edge of town and locked in.\u00a0 240 women and 205 children were locked in the village church.\u00a0 Then the SS men set fire to the barns and threw grenades through the windows of the church, shooting those who sought to escape the flames.<\/p>\n

After 642 inhabitants were dead, the soldiers looted the empty dwellings and then burned the village to the ground.\u00a0 At about 8 pm in the evening, the SS men withdrew from the smoking ruins.\u00a0 Only seven villagers survived the massacre: six men and a woman, all of them more or less severely injured.\u00a0 About fifteen other inhabitants of the village were able to escape the Germans before the massacre started or evade the roundup by hiding.<\/p>\n

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It’s a really spooky place.\u00a0 An amazing memorial.\u00a0 A tragic reminder of the atrocities of war.\u00a0 A reminder that, sadly, seems to be being overlooked in many countries at present.<\/p>\n

The authorities charged with maintaining the site are on the horns of a dilemma.\u00a0 Leave well alone and risk the remaining walls collapsing.\u00a0 Or try and stabilise gthe stonework and lose the originality.\u00a0 I have to say that some sections of “restored” walls looked really out of place.\u00a0 Far too much pointing.\u00a0 They need more sensitivity, but it’s a very delicate balance.\u00a0 \u00a0I wouldn’t fancy having to make the decisions.<\/p>\n

Back to the present.\u00a0 Almost!<\/p>\n

Many years ago, and we can’t agree on how many, we bought a collection of porcelain plates and dishes.\u00a0 A complete set of tableware.\u00a0 We did this on one occasion as we drove through Limoges.\u00a0 We need some replacements.\u00a0 Of course, we have brought with us no information about the manufacturer, the retail outlet, etc.\u00a0 Not even at good picture of the relief pattern!\u00a0 We spent a happy few hours on a hot day in the city trying to trace the place we bought it from.\u00a0 We tried the museum of porcelain below the cathedral.\u00a0 We tried several retail outlets.\u00a0 We tried a clearance depot.\u00a0 We criss-crossed the outlying areas of town.\u00a0 With no luck.\u00a0 As a final shot, we parked back below the cathedral where we had been several hours before.\u00a0 There is a shop in the city centre that sells a range of manufacturers’ products.\u00a0 We have the address.\u00a0 Google maps knows where it is.<\/p>\n

We walk up through the gardens – Les Jardins Botaniques de l’Ev\u00e9che – to the cathedral.<\/p>\n

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Why are so many of these magnificent buildings stuck on top of hills?<\/p>\n

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The Cath\u00e9dral de St Etienne de Limoges.\u00a0 Another one built off the standard cathedral plans – as discussed previously.\u00a0 \u00a0And open for everyone to wander in.\u00a0 And cool!\u00a0 Did I mention that today was the hottest day we’ve had this trip?\u00a0 Over 30\u00b0C.\u00a0 An excellent day to trudge round a city!<\/p>\n

In the pedestrian square outside the cathedral, there is a community centre run by volunteers.\u00a0 They have a weaving display and an art exhibition.\u00a0 But, MUCH more importantly, they serve tea.\u00a0 In tea pots.\u00a0 With boiling water!\u00a0 At \u20ac1 a person it’s a real bargain.\u00a0 Except we have no cash, just a credit card.\u00a0 There is a minimum limit of \u20ac100.\u00a0 So we bought a few packets of almond biscuits, a couple of paintings and a woven tie.\u00a0 Less of a bargain, but a very welcome cup of tea (and almond biscuits) – and they had a loo!<\/p>\n

Now to find this blessed porcelain shop.<\/p>\n

The street caf\u00e9s in shaded alleys were doing a roaring trade.<\/p>\n

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We found the porcelaine shop precisely where it was supposed to be.\u00a0 But, in the end, we left it with exactly the same number of plates and bowls that they had when we arrived.\u00a0 The rather snooty shop assistant lost interest in us when she heard the “extent” of the information we held on our plates (which we use every day!).\u00a0 No name of manufacturer, no date of purchase, no name of design, no clear picture.\u00a0 Not a lot really.\u00a0 No help there!\u00a0 “Please leave us alone!”\u00a0 OK, time for home!<\/p>\n

Restaurants around here are hand to find.\u00a0 Hard to find, as in not abundant.\u00a0 The Restaurant St Laurent (in St Laurent, obviously) comes highly recommended, but it’s shut on Mondays (along with 95% of rural French eateries).\u00a0 But the Auberge de la Vall\u00e9e de la Gorre in Saint Auvent is open.\u00a0 (Editor’s note: “Saint Auvent” translates to “Saint Awning” – awning, as to be found in our car and NOT on the side of our caravan.\u00a0 You can see how far we are researching French saints!)<\/p>\n

We had looked for this restaurant the other day, but failed to find it.\u00a0 But we were on the wrong road in the wrong village at the time – which might explain that.\u00a0 This time, we checked the map and found it no problem.\u00a0 Excellent.\u00a0 Run by an English couple.\u00a0 They do a superb roast Sunday lunch with all the trimmings.\u00a0 But it’s not Sunday!<\/p>\n

The following day was Glenda’s birthday, so I booked the Saint Laurent using their answerphone (which, to be honest, is a skill which I haven’t totally mastered).\u00a0 Only to find, when we arrived, that it was “Exceptionally closed that day”.\u00a0 A collection of frustrated, would-be French diners lurking outside the place gave me some comfort!\u00a0 A quick dash back to St Awning to get one of their last available tables!\u00a0 It still wasn’t Sunday, but the menu of the day – French food with an English influence – was excellent.\u00a0 So Glenda putting on one of her posh frocks got her birthday lunch (complete with bougie in her dessert) after all.\u00a0 That was a narrow squeak!<\/p>\n

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And after lunch a little sit down was required in the shade beside a lake on the edge of town …<\/p>\n

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… before a gentle stoll along the edge of the water.<\/p>\n

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Anyway, it’s time to relocate further North.\u00a0 We are heading to a field in the middle of nowhere more or less equidistant from Cholet, Dou\u00e9 la Fontaine and Bressuire.\u00a0 And, as it will turn out, lovely, but “equi-long-distant” from all three!\u00a0 Camping Le Serpolin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It transpires that we are camped less than 30 km from Oradour-sur-Glane.\u00a0 The martyred village.\u00a0 We’ve visited before, but it’s such a moving place, we want to go again. In the morning of 10 June 1944, almost exactly 80 years… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain-and-france-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5349"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6738,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349\/revisions\/6738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}