France

A long overdue visit to see my mate Benjy in his new gaff in the Central Massif region in France.  Post covid, etc., we were delighted to finally wend our way via Clermont-Ferrand to his house to stay. 

While there we visited Oradour-sur-Glane, the war memorial dedicated to the memory of the villagers, rounded up by elements of the 2nd SS Panzer division 'Das Reich' and executed, from babies through all the schoolchildren to all of the adults.  Just three people lived to tell the tale, all wounded.

The use of Oradour in the opening sequence of the World at War series makes it a meaningful place to visit for a lot of people.

It's a very eerie village, accessed through a visitor centre.   This is the remnants of the village garage:

Everything is ruined all that remains are bricks and rusted metal:

Rusted cars where they were abandoned as not fit for looting by the successive army units that passed through during and after the massacre:

The main road being particularly poignant in the context of the World at War piece and indeed what they did to the populace there:

Of course it was all the tougher with the knowledge of what is happening in Ukraine and the atrocities and war crimes being committed against the civilan population there.

Having left Benjy we headed on to explore, the weather wasn't great but the scenery was outstanding:

Castles adorn the tops of steep-sided hills:

As indeed do the towns, this is the outskirts of Saint Flour where we stayed next:

We did a hillclimb walk which opened up into a huge landscape in the Haute-Loire:

Visited a bridge designed by a certain Mr Eiffel:

And the adjacent reservoir/gorge, you can see Helen surveying the landscape and the low water levels, at the start of Spring:

Our last day was spent doing a bit more touristing, we had a picnic by this unused but securely locked church overlooking a river.

Butterflies were emerging, birds were singing, the sun was shining, it was a lovely visit and one we are keen to repeat sooner rather than later!