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Published: April 23rd 2019
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Friday 19th April
We set out this morning for the long trip from Rocamadour to Blois, on the Loire River.
Our stop along the way was at Oradour-sur-Glane. This village was destroyed by Waffen SS soldiers in 1944, as a brutal reprisal for the activities of the French Resistance as the Nazis began to lose the war. The inhabitants of the village were rounded up, men were separated from women and children. The men were taken to various spots around the village and shot. Their bodies were burnt. The women and children were put in the village church which was set on fire. Nearly seven hundred civilians were murdered, including over one hundred children. The buildings of the village were blown up. Very few people escaped the roundup and massacre.
De Gaulle had the village left untouched as a memorial and reminder of what took place there. A new village was built nearby after the war. This was a very sad and solemn place to visit, but most worthwhile. The cemetery was particularly sad, with hundreds of graves and touching memorials to the children, and to whole families too. The most touching was the tribute to the young
primary school teacher, a young lady loved by her pupils, who had had to march them all into the church. It was her 24th birthday on that day.
We then continued on to Blois.
The restaurant where we had dinner had a Tintin and Asterix the Gaul theme, with a lot of different items around the restaurant – posters, models, memorabilia – including the menus, which had covers from the comic books.
Saturday 20th April
Today the group was going to visit some of the Loire Valley châteaux (Chenonceau, Amboise, Clos Lucé), all of which I have visited twice before on previous trips, so I decided to go independent and do my own thing today.
After visiting the laundromat, I walked up to the station to catch the shuttle bus (la navette) to Château Cheverny. This castle served as the model for Hergé when he drew Captain Haddock's family estate in the Tintin books. If you remove the two end wings from the château, you are left with the profile of Marlinspike Hall (Moulinsart). Being a Tintin fan, I was interested to see this château, where there is also the Tintin Experience –
small interactive museum. The navette went via Château Chambord, where most people alighted – I was the only passenger continuing to Cherverny. I only saw Chambord from a distance, but wow, what an extraordinary looking castle!
Cheverny Castle stands in gorgeous gardens, with many tulip beds, blossoming trees, large lawns and a lake. The castle is in excellent condition – the historic owners still live in one wing. The castle interior the tourists see is sumptuously decorated, including the marble staircase, suits of armour, hunting trophies, etc which can all be seen in the Tintin books in Marlinspike Hall (Moulinsart). I sat on the lawn to eat my spartan picnic lunch (no GF bread at our present hotel, and no boiled eggs!). The Tintin exhibition was fair, not really very much to see, but was more to capture the flavour of his adventures in the castle setting.
Early afternoon I took the shuttle bus back to Blois – once again I had the bus to myself. Then I did a bit of a walking tour of Blois, visiting the St Vincent de Paul Church, the Cathedral, the Mona Lisa steps, Archbishop's garden, and the riverbank. Then I went
to see La Maison de la Magie (House of Magic). The famous Robert Houdin came from Blois, and the Maison is largely a museum of Houdin. However, more happens there. I arrived just in time to see the hourly dragon automatons – six dragons burst out from the front of the building to breathe fire and smoke and move their heads – another tribute to Houdin, the great master of animated devices. I also saw a half-hour magic show, which was quite good. Also in the museum was a section on Harry Houdini, which included video of some of his famous escapes.
Tomorrow we are off to Paris.
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