Ibis Limoges Centre

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 ...

... ex-pat friends whom we visited for coffee or lunch, and also their extremely amiable French neighbours, who make use of the lack of fences to
wander over and say bonjour, bringing a bunch of leeks, or a basket of beans, or whatever else is thriving on their land that day. It's all very sociable and mutually supportive and a far cry from the stereotype of the ...

... 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".

... well, I left my rape alarm at home so that was out of the question. Fortunatelly Alex's parents where near by and they offered to take me to the city. We went to the tourist office to get directions for a bike shop. On the way out I saw a car go ploughing into an old lady; after rotating a few times she hit the deck and I was the first to reach her. I started talking to her and she soon ...

... 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 ...

... while back home was not really an option for me. Needless to say, I had a fantastic time back home going from doctor to doctor. I was in better shape back there. I should just back on the road, it is much less dangerous and much more comfortable I guess. I also took the time to properly hook up with all my friends and realised how much had happened during those 4 months I was away. It was all a bit much for me: my cousin had her second child, a ...

On the 20th of July Simba and I left Cambridge to visit Dechen Choling - the Shambhala Land Center in France. I was going to study Kyudo for a week (explanation in earlier entry) and she was going to do childcare for family camp. On the first day we settled into our lovely tent at the bottom of the lawn in front of the chateau. The advance Kyudo course was going on and as we walked past Simba said ...