Poitiers, Oradour, Limoges

A couple of days ago, the little nearby town of Saint George des Gardes held its annual Fete du Vent or Festival of the Wind. It was suggested that such an event was a natural place for me to be. (Please note that Dan, not Vicki, is the "me" in this post!)




So the Murrells, Delsin, and the Dalles walked into town, later joined by Debbie and Lilly, and found people flying, fun things to do, and food.




Delsin tried his hand at archery, assisted in sign language by a very nice man who spoke no English.




Vicki and I climbed the church towers with the kids - I was wheezing when I made it to the top.












On Monday, Vicki and I took off for Poitiers, where one of Vicki's distant relatives ("her people") was mayor. We visited Notre Dame La Grande, a masterpiece of Romanesque decor. This is a somewhat older building, built at least in part by the 10th century - and there are vestiges of Roman architecture that it replaced.








The most moving part of this trip so far was our visit to Oradour-sur-Glane. The original village was completely destroyed on 10 June 1944, and 642 of its inhabitants were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company. The town has been left as it was, untouched, as a memorial.







The church, where the women and children were murdered









The girls' school




After Oradour, we continued on to Limoges, as in Limoges china and enamel, very little of which can actually be found in a store there. I have to say that Limoges was not as welcoming or pretty as other places we have visited, but I did enjoy a tour of one porcelain factory. From Vicki: I had taken an Ambien, because our room was right on the street and a little warm. I slept through Dan's field trip. :( The process itself is pretty amazing.
Lunch was at a creperie in the old part of town.




On our return to La Giro, we stopped at le Puy Notre Dame, another pretty amazing church, parts of which date back to the 5th century. It is a pilgrimage destination and has a "sainte ceinture," or girdle that is thought to have been worn by Mary.




Last night, we celebrated the Dalles' 41st wedding anniversary with dinner, petanque, and cremant, a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley that is as good as any I have had from elsewhere. Congratulations to the Dalles!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (on which I cannot figure out how to do French accents!)