France Tour. September 2015. Final Part.

September 20th.

Awoke to a gloriously sunny day, breakfast and then off to the Brocante at 0900hrs. We were amazed, never seen such a big one, every road in the centre closed and full of stalls and people.

We very soon spotted a little dolls house, working lights and animation, like a large musical box.

After a bit of haggling we got it for a good price, perfect for Hazels little business Teeny Weeny World. So good in fact it was sold within a week after getting home. At this point we decided to take it back to Eevie. Collected a wheeled trolley and then back to the fray.

We wandered all over and not sure even now if we covered it all.

Hazel found a lovely Olive wood bowl.

Which we use for fruit at home, cost us the princely sum of 6 euros. We were still in the fray at lunchtime so adjourned to a cafe for food and a drink. We ate inside and watched their food stall outside.

They were working flat out, and I the kitchen was struggling to keep up the supply of frites. When we'd finished we went back into the fray.

 After about another hour we'd had enough and went back to Eevie for a rest. It had been a long (5 hours) day for a boot fair, but productive. A quiet evening and early night.

September 21st.

A dull but dry morning. We hit the road 0900hrs on the last leg to Calais. Heavy traffic for the first part, until we were well clear of Paris. Then pleasant and quiet. Decided to head for "Camping St Louis" near Ardres, about 14 miles from Calais. A nice site run by 2 young girls, a mix of touring and static but very friendly. Arrived at 1400hrs. Sadly the site was closing for the winter the following week and the bar and food were already closed. Never mind we just chilled out, played crib bit of tv and generally relaxed.

September 22nd.

A day of going nowhere today, sorting things out, tidying up etc. Ferry and home tomorrow. The weather was a mix of heavy showers and warm sunshine. I decided to make use of the rain and give Eevie a rinse.

Didn't take long to sort everything and the rest of the day was spent loafing.

September 23rd.

Left site 1030hrs. Into Cite Europe for our last bits then caught the 1325hrs P&O to Dover. Arrived back at storage 1520hrs. It had been a good trip, weather could have been better but all in all not too bad.

 This is a rough outline of the route we took.

France Tour. September 2015. Part 4.

September 13th.

After a wet night rain stopped about 0500hrs, so at 0900hrs we managed to pack away our stuff dry, Left site 0945hrs bound for Souillac. A pleasant drive through counryside with a few light showers and we arrived at "Camping les Ondines" at 1300hrs. Reception was closed, but we were able to set up and check in later.

Then we took a short walk into the Centre Ville, where we found a Brocante taking place.

The rain returned as light showers so wasn't to bad.

Hazel found some more bits for her Teeny Weeny World crafting, so that was good.

Mainly fine cotton etc, but very good price. Then we adjourned for refreshments in the square.

Returned to the site and checked in for 1 night. Had our showers followed by dinner and a bit of tv before bed.

September 14th.

Woke to the rain.

But our bits stowed outside under the awning stayed dry so wasn't to bad. Packed up and left at 0930hrs. We arrived at the Aire in Oradour sur Glane at 1145.

As can be seen the weather was nice but there were some very heavy showers at times. We walked down to the museum of memorium. Paid for our tickets then entered. All is dedicated to the 10th June 1944, when the SS massacred approximately 650 local people, men women and children. I wont go into detail here as you can find it all on the internet. Suffice to say when I left the museum to enter the village my eyes were watering and throat choked up. 

The village is kept as it was left that fateful day, destroyed by fire and explosives.

The destuction has to be seen to be believed, these are just samples.

The sewing machine still in place behind the memorial to the family murdered here.

The main street with the tram tracks still visible.

A panorama looking towards the previous photo.

This is the church where about 250 women and children were killed, the youngest a few weeks old. They were herded in and then it was set on fire, note the rusting pushchair in front of the alter. In this place I really cried.

Cars untouched in all his time, slowly rotting away.

Nothing was left. 

 We left the village feeling very depressed. More so because our species has learnt nothing from this and similar events, and still goes on with it's cycle of destruction.

  Walked back up to Eevie,

we had planned on overnighting here, but we both needed to leave that place. We drove a few miles in  the direction of La Rochele our stop for tomorrow. Found a nice little site in Bignac.

It's owned by an English family is a convenient stopover.

Has a large fishing lake where apparently there is a lot of large carp.

For us it was just somewhere to get over the day and rest.