Saint-Junien, France 🇫🇷 2023

Date: 10th July 2023

Travelled: 135 kms from Aubusson to Saint-Junien  

Visited: Oradour-sur Glane and Mortemart  

Stayed: Saint-Junien Municipal Campsite, €13, N45.89750, E00.89890  

Budget: 49 days @ €89 per day

---

Another quiet evening in the campsite in Aubusson. An English couple who now apparently live in France are our neighbours for the evening. They tell us they are following Le Tour and we tell them where trying to avoid it.

Pam heads off for a solo walk this morning whilst I get the scooter back on the Hymer and get ready for the road once again.

We do a quick shop at the Carrefour for some ice (cold beer and wine), fresh milk and a tank full of diesel. The drive west to Limoges is scenic but we pass hundreds of motorhomes heading east obviously chasing Le Tour.

---

---

Our first stop today is Oradour-sur-Glane. Some 25 kms north-west of Limoges, Oradour stands today as it was left by the soldiers of the Waffen SS on the 10th June 1944. As the plaques tell us it stands for the 642 men, women and children who became known as the Martyrs of Oradour.

---

---

---

Since watching the World at War series on the ABC many years ago, I have always remembered the episode detailing the mass murder of the villagers of Oradour in France. Our friend Mark and Mireille posted their visit to Oradour a year or two ago ago and I placed a marker in Google Maps to make sure we visited if we have the chance.

In Aubusson this morning Pam is reading a travel story in the Sydney Morning Herald about the towns lost in time, remarkably featuring Oradour. That’s a little spooky. Our visits starts at the interpretation centre pictured above before walking the village

---

---

---

I won’t go into too much detail you can look it up yourself. The short version…in reprisal for the work of the local French Resistance, SS troops rounded up the entire village, separated the men from the women and children, then executed them all. After the murders they put the entire village to the torch. Obviously this occurred a few days after the D Day landings. The village was left as it was and eventually relocated a few hundred metres to the north,

---

---

---

We eventually wander back to the Hymer. Our visit to Oradour certainly was a somewhat overwhelming experience.

It’s still early afternoon as we continue 16 kms further north to Mortemart.

From our guide book the Most Beautiful Villages in France you’ll find Mortemart on page 221. Mortemart stands on the River Lama in the Limousin. In 995 the King authorised the Lord of Mortemart to build a château here as appreciation for his efforts in battle, in a gesture of humility the Lord names it after himself.

---

---

As we parked near the church our tour of Mortemart starts there.

---

---

We follow the river around to the Château de Mortemart. These days much less a fortress than it was in 995 the Château has had a makeover as a B+B. The original was destroyed by the English in the 14th century, then re-built only to be ordered torn down by King Louis XIV. It remained a ruin until the Mortemart family re-purchased the property and did a full restoration in the 19th century. I’m sure it would have made a great reality TV series.

---

---

We walk through the market square with its flowers and well preserved buildings. No tourists other than us walking around today.

---

---

Almost back where we started our walk, the Carmelite Convent (circa 14-17th century). According to the blurb Mortemart was a favoured location of the Cardinals and there were 3 different convents here. The Carmelite which is a huge U shaped series of buildings the only one remaining.

---

---

---

Love that Velocette pictured above.

Our walk around Mortemart complete we return to the Hymer, setting the GPS for a campsite in Saint-Junien. Thirty minutes later we are parked in the shade with the AC doing its thing. That was our day.

---

Michael + Pam