Best Western Richelieu Limoges

Set upon the River Vezere and quite pretty due to its 15th and 16th century Maisons a Tourelles, which looks like miniture castles due to their turrets. The rain had stopped for our little walk around the village but started again when we got back to the car - great timing!

Stayed last night in a pretty little medieval village of Solignac, right on the town square next to the villages 11th century church, which is on the pilgirmage route - Santiago de Compostela. It had rained last night and was still raining so our wander around was brief! Our plan today was to stop at several little villages in the area, of which they got progressively prettier.

... such a slaughter is a testimony to the efficiency of the German plan. Oradour was a quaint little town that was bustling with life.

On June 6, 1944 the Allied landings had taken place and on June 9, 1944 the Resistance had blown up the railway bridge at Saint-Junien, hoping to delay the German troops on their way to Normandy. During this operation, two German soldiers had been ...

I had wondered how my currently lardy physique, in my limited and scruffy travel wardrobe, would go down in famously stylish France... but I found that the rural Perigord was less Parisien chic and more practical peasant-wear... perfect pour moi!






And so I settled in to enjoying this rural idyl: sleeping late, drinking fresh brewed coffee in ...

... with a handbag. Made more sketchy by the same fellow (obviously a scholar) re-entering the building and leaving with another hand bag and a guitar. I wander where he was going with his two handbags and guitar. . .

We cycled on to find a camping spot. After 5 days of intense cycling in heavy heat with no shower we were forced to sleep in amongst a thick cloud of smell which could quite literally "gag a maggot".

... conciousness. Then she started freaking out because I was speaking English. I left her to the crowd of people. She seemed fine.

At the bike shop it was obvious that I would need a new wheel, which requires a new gearing cassette, tyre, and innertube. 80 euros has seriously hurt the budget. Only 200 pounds left to get to Africa. Whats worse is the chain doesn't fit properly.

MST

... women and children. The men were taken to sheds and houses, where they were shot and then burned. The women and children were all killed in the church. Only a few people escaped. It's horrendous and I hardly even want to recount the details. Details such as: burned out corpses of twin boys, 12 years old, found clutching to each other. The body of an 8 year old boy, found kneeling in the confessional. Men shot in the legs so that they can ...

Ahh, first full day of driving. Which meant that we were running out of gas! First time driving in France, don't speak the language, don't know what kind of gas this rental car uses, plus it's getting late and we're driving in the countryside (lovely farms I might add). And we have no idea where we're going to sleep! And we're getting hungry ...

A week in France with family and friends, what could be better ? 4 months in South east Asia ? 6 months in Central America? No, not even comparable. Putting aside the fact that I had to spend a couple of days sorting out necessary things in England, opening the hundreds of letters and invoices that have been piling in the mailbox and attending to all the problems that have only been waiting for me to come back in order to give me a warm welcome back to ...

... following the Ric************* Heart tour. Didn't know he had been here, but it took us through some lovely countryside. At Pompadour, there was another huge chateau that Richard had apparently lived in. We were up for a tour, but we were to late, so we hit the road again and our final stop for the day was in Solignac. Here was a 75 metre long granite church. It was famous because it is used as a stop over on the pilgrim's route to ...