Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Monday 28 July
We have had a lovely few days in France and are thoroughly enjoying our time with Bernie and Kate. They are in France for six months, having carried out a house-swap, so they have been able to show us Parthenay and the towns and villages around.
Our trip across the channel was very smooth and we soon clocked-up the miles on the excellent French motorways on the first day, stopping in a lovely village for the first night, called Bernay. The second day we stayed away from the motorways and navigated our way through some beautiful villages to our ultimate destination of Parthenay. Wonderful to see Bernie and Kate again and we were very excited to hear about their time, so far, in France and for us to tell them of our time in the States and the UK.
The countryside around here is wonderful and the house where we are staying is so peaceful. We have lots to see and do, or some days we can just sit by the river in total silence, apart from the sound of the birds in the trees or a tractor ploughing in a distant field. Just perfect. We have seen some amazing cheateaux, churches and other buildings. We have seen so much French history , in Parthenay itself and just hours away at Fontevraud Abbey, just south of Saumur and the 13th Century Chateau of King Renee in Angers where the longest (at 103m) tapestry in the world is housed.
Yesterday we also paid a visit to the weekly market at Thours, the sights, sounds and smells were wonderful, how all markets should be. People go there to see their neighbours and catch-up on the local gossip, they discuss recipes and the best way to cook the produce they are buying and they go to buy some excellent, fresh produce. Think we now have enough cheese to last us for at least a few days......... or maybe only one or two?!
We spent a very interesting but extremely emotive day in Oradour sur Glane where a massacre had taken place on Saturday 10 of June 1944. The town had been far from any centre of conflict and had never been an active resistance stronghold. Yet on that Saturday, the SS drove into Oradour and killed everyone that they could find, a total of 642 men, women and children. The town was then looted and every building, set on fire. To this day there is no universally agreed explanation as to why the SS acted as they did, or why they chose Oradour for their attack. All the principal characters on the SS side are now dead and the few French survivors of the town were not given any clues by the troops as to why they were acting as they were. Everything in the town, all the derelict buildings, abandoned cars etc are all as they were left on that day in 1944 as a monument to those who were killed on that day.
On a lighter note, we had a lovely day crusing the marshes of Marais Poitevin in the glorious sunshine seeing the birds and vegetation of the area. A very relaxing day!
At the end of our week in France, we had to say goodbye to Bernie and Kate and make our way back to Caen to catch our overnight ferry to Portsmouth. But we had had a wonderful time and thanks to Bernie and Kate.
- comments