Tuesday 28th September mileage 11990 Arromanche Normandy

Up early and decided to try and update the blog as I have not found it easy to get internet access. Set tomtom for a library in town. Tomtom took me through steep narrow streets in a walled city. Got to library and it didn't open till 10:00 so abandoned that idea and set off again for Arromanche!

No incidents on the road and mostly dual-carriageway so I made good time. Decided to try and find library in Rennes. Tomtom took me to an address but after parking I read a notice on the building that said the services had been relocated to another address! Set this into tomtom and set off again via a tortuous route to the other side of Rennes. Got to this address and it seemed to be just municipal offices and law courts but no library!!

Gave up on the internet for the day and back on the road to Arromanche.

Decided to go and see Mont St Michel again as it is a beautiful sight as you approach it by road. Again tomtom tried to take me directly, but the route was "barre" and had to divert all the way back to Pontorson!! Still it was worth it to see it again!

Arrived at Arromanche (the place where my father came ashore on the day after D-Day) a very small coastal village on a beautiful evening with the sun setting over the remains of the Mullberry B harbour that the Allies built to be their harbour for supplying the advance into France.

Decided to stay in the hotel right on the sea front and after a shower went for an evening stroll on the beach and up on the cliff tops.

Lots of memorabilia of D-Day and tomorrow I will go to the museum of Disembarkment and also see a 360 degree cinema show about D-Day. Lots of time thinking about my dad participating in this huge logistical operation. They had been planning for D-day since 1942!!

Nice evening meal in local restaurant. Moulles is the local speciality delicious!!
More later
TOR

Monday September 27th mileage 11806 near Poitiers

Up early didn't bother with breakfast (another €7.50) and set off for Oradour-sur Glane. The village is a permanent memorial to those who perished and also tells the story of Nazi occupation in France, the Vichey Government, collaborators and the resistance.

What happened is that the area around Bordeaux became a re-grouping area for German troops as the Allies landed on D-Day and the Germans had to defend and plan their way back to Berlin. There were lots of Waffen SS troops in the area (18000+) so it also became a target for the militia in the resistance movement.
After various skirmishes in towns in the area and some SS commanders had been captured an order was given to be hard on the local population to make an example of what will happen if you do not cooperate with the Germans.
They sent about 200 SS troops to Oradour-sur Glane and encircled the whole village. They then gradually moved inwards herding all the people into the village square. There they separated the men from the women and children, they were using the excuse that they were going to search the whole village for weapons. The villagers knew there were no weapons and therefore were not too unduly alarmed. They put all the women and children (about 400 people) into the church, and split the men (200+) into about five groups and took them into separate points in the village. At a coordinated time all the men were shot and their bodies stacked in a pyre and burnt. They then went to the church and set it alight with wood and phosphorus; as it was burning they shot at low level to kill the children, so the women could see that their children were dead!!
Only one woman survived, on that day 10th June 1944 they murdered 624 people.

They came back the days after to remove the bodies and to hide their crime!!

The old village that was completely burnt down by the Germans is left as it was as a monument to the people who died. A new village (the current Oradour-sur Glane) has been built alongside the old one.

 There is a memorial information centre where the story is told with story boards and videos of the village before and after the massacre. You then can go and walk about in the old village. A very moving experience!!

After Oradour-sur Glane got the address from Savi for Cheryl and Gordon's property, so went back towards Perigeaux to see how they have been getting along with the restoration of their houses!

They have land and three properties:
1) A huge barn/shed.

2) A small house that Gordon has renovated to the extent he has the walls almost completed and the roof half done.

3) A large house where it looks like they have just tidied up all the land around it so far!

Set tomtom for Arromanche which is 650km ( a couple of days ride away)

More later
TOR