Today we say au revoir to the beautiful, historic and fun town of Sarlat-la-Caneda. We are driving north to the Loire Valley to our new home for the next five nights in Vouvray, France. 

In the morning we eat some breakfast, pack up & get ready for our departure. The car is up a pretty steep hill so I leave my bags with Cindy & Holly at the bottom with their bags and walk up the hill to get our car. After I drive down to pick up the bags and friends, we are off driving around the town and through the countryside to reach the highway. Our drive is about five hours or so (according to google maps). 

We break up the drive mid-way with a stop to visit a WWII memorial village site. Here we discover a sad piece of history that gives us a glimpse into the horror of war and the importance to never forget. This village was a small market town for the bigger city nearby. At the end of the second world war, there were political and military goings on that created a tragedy for this village, Oradour-sur-Glane. The Germans in retaliation decided to massacre a village and chose this one. The village walls were surrounded and then the Germans came down the main road, going into houses and finding all the residents in the village. The men, women and children were rounded up into the main square, almost 650 people in total. The men were then separated into three small groups and led to different locations. The women and children were rounded up into the village church. The men were executed mainly by gunfire. Only 5 men escaped. In the church, the women and children were also executed. The church was set on fire. The story, like so many form these terrible times of war, was heart-breaking. The village stands in ruins as a memorial and reminder to all. Everything is left as it was after the massacre and the fires died out. Walking around the village ruins, it was sobering to see all the bits of metal scraps from lives cut short by the atrocity that took place here in June, 1944. The tram lines still lie there, the power line poles still stand, the remnants of businesses like cafes complete with the metal frames of tables and chairs are there... the church stands pretty much intact save the empty hole where a roof should be. The altars are there. A crucifix stands outside the door. All damaged but standing. Inside the memorial museum building there are walls lined with pictures of all the people who were killed in this village. There are many missing pictures with only a name but they are still seeking out pictures. This was probably the most moving piece of this memorial. 

Souviens-Toi

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