Prieure d'Orsan Maisonnais

... 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 ...

... the sunshine, practising my best Gallic shrug, sitting in the shade of the cherry tree and chatting or reading or daydreaming or snoozing or just asorbing the stillness and birdsong, trying to resurrect my school French following 22 years of neglect, devouring my mom's incomparable home-cooking, consuming obscene quantities of tantalisingly pongy cheeses, guzzling ...

... 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

So from my last blog entry we have been travelling through miles of rolling countryside punctuated by amazing views of the ocean. The weather has taken us from bone chilling cold to shirt sleeves and sunglasses.... this can happen in a matter of minutes. Really the storm cloud formations have been out of this world. Some of the driving has been quite worrisome but all is well and we are now in Angouleme. This is the city where our oldest ...

Wednesday we decided upon a more somber itinerary. We went to Oradour-Sur-Glane, a town about 2 hours from where we are staying and the site of a horrific WWII massacre. Before I get to the massacre site, let me briefly tell you about lunch. We ate lunch in a restaurant just outside of Oradour. This was our splurge meal, and it was rather expensive, but it was a really neat experience. The restaurant was set on the site of a chateau, and ...

France is covered with lush green forests, rivers and mountains.France's highest point is Mount Blanc (15771ft.)with it highest point in the French Alps. The mountain range runs along the border of France and Italy. France's longest river is the Loire River (634miles long). It begins 85 miles north ogf the Mediterranean Sea, and flows north for about 300 miles.

... consciente de mes limites et "relativement" confortable avec elles ( ;o)..) et ca c'etait une de mes limites... Alors voila donc le trajet prevu pour l'Amerique du Sud: PERU: - Premier arret et depart du voyage organise: Lima: 17th Jan 09 (j'arrive a Lima la veille apres a peu pres 20h de trajet) - apres on va sur Pisco, Nazca, Colca Canyon et Arequipa - apres on prend l'avion pour Cusco pour aller faire le treck des Incas jusqu'a Machu Picchu (sur 4 jours ...

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 ...