Blue sky thinking.......

Thursday 6/12/12

As promised some photos of the blue sky which we had on Thursday.

This is the only day it hasn't snowed since we have been here.

Today the snow has returned with a break forecast for Sunday before more snow next week. 

Enough snow already!

Tomorrow we start work officially - first job is to clear a path to the front door!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ......

Tuesday 4/12/12
Les Carroz

We arrived in Les Carroz on Saturday afternoon and it hasn't stopped snowing since. The resort 'opens' officially on 22/12/12 and at the moment the traders are busy stocking up the shops, opening the restaurants, getting chalets ready and preparing the pistes. It's a pretty resort and once the snow stops, the clouds lift and the sun comes out I will post some photos.

The photo above was taken this morning and shows the van slowly being 'consumed' by the snow and there is more snow forecast for the rest of the week. Dave climbed onto the van roof this morning and cleared off about 20cm depth.  It is currently parked outside the chalet we are running. I haven't counted up all the bedrooms and beds yet but there's loads of them and it's huge! Help........

Change of course

Wednesday 28/11/12

We have been zig-zagging our way across France enjoying the different landscapes, towns and villages en-route.  We haven’t had a plan just gone pretty much as the mood took us. Our Europe road map is quite small scale and rather unhelpfully has no contours and few heights marked. So when we decided to head south towards Montelimar we didn’t realise we were heading firstly towards quite a high pass and secondly into a big snow storm. As dusk fell and the snow was getting thicker and sticking we decided we had to turn around and head back to a small village we had just driven through.

We ground to a halt in the square in front of the Post Office and Dave wrestled with the snow chains so that we could park up rather than just abandoning it in the centre of the square where we had stopped. Lorries with snow ploughs and tractors fought valiantly to keep clearing the road late into the night. At 5am the nimble tractor drivers were up again clearing the snow so that life could carry on. 

We decided to double back the way we had come the day before and find a lower route on to our final destination. The snow is all around us on the mountains but at least the roads are clear………for now. More snow is expected on Sunday by which time we should be in Les Carroz.

Time stands still

Monday 26/11/12

Oradour 

In the Limousin district we came across Oradour a deserted town preserved in memory of those who lost their lives here in World War II. Its sad history tells of 200 SS Nazi troops entering the town on the afternoon of 10^th June 1944 rounding up all the inhabitants killing 642 in total, of which 193 were children.

The town has been preserved sympathetically with no commercial influence. There are a few family shrines and a number of plain signs indicating the type of trade operated from the buildings, of which only the shells remain today,  and the name of the business owner. Walking around it appears to have been a wealthy town with a church, school, doctors surgery, a number of garages, café’s, hairdressers, bakeries, pharmacies and a large post office. The thoroughfares are wide and open with a tram network running the length of the main street. It is eerily quiet with few visitors, strangely in the distance you can here children in the school playground of the new town Oradour-sur-Glane, sounding almost like a soundtrack to a bygone day.

After killing the inhabitants the troops set fire to the town and destroyed much of the fabric and contents of the buildings. What remains today in amongst the rubble are a number of large metal objects including pots, scales, tools, sewing machines and cars that survived the fires. As they slowly rust away they remind you that these streets and houses were once alive with people going about their daily business before their lives were so cruelly taken away from them. 

Visiting the town is free and the entrance is through a smart visitor centre which also houses a library and exhibition. On the far side of the large 5km site, near the graveyard, is another building, almost unnoticeable. Here smaller exhibits and belongings are displayed and the names of all who lost their lives are engraved onto plaques on the walls. Everyday objects including spectacles, watches, jewellery, ink pots and coins have been collected from the houses and bodies of those who lost their lives. Poignantly the watches of the men stopped during their final hours. Time really has stood still here.