La Rentree- but it`s been a good Summer

Kim and Al talking to a tree sprite

I'm  sorry that I have been what the Cornish call a bit seldom in posting new Arks, although in Cornwall the word is used to describe thinning hair,as in he' s a bit seldom on top.... my excuse is, of course, that Summer is a busy time and more time is spent outdoors than is passed in front of a key-board. I have reviewed my output since June, and apart from an outburst against the greedy French taxman, little has been added to the Ark's journal. That's not to say that we have been doing nothing, of course, rather the opposite!.
   After our usual mountain holiday in the Pyrenees in June, and a short stay in Orthez chez Arlette and  Laurent, we returned to La Mort Limouzin to tidy up before Al arrived to spend a whole three weeks with us. This gave us the excuse to play tourist and this year we excelled ourselves visiting the Futuroscope, the Puy du Fou , Oradour sur Glane and Saintes to mention just the high spots. On these  day-long visits, Al finds difficulty in walking but we were lucky and privileged to be able to borrow a wheelchair from our helpful local pharmacies, which made things much simpler. And aren't the French kind to disabled people! At the theme parks we got free parking close to the entrance, priority in the queues for the attractions and wheelchair access to the various scenes, often in the front ranks. Taking Al was not a disadvantage but rather a plus factor, though pushing the chair up some steep slopes was good exercise... Here again, some helpful French tourists gave a willing hand.
   We have visited the Futuroscope and the Puy du Fou several times already but we never tire of them, especially as they modify and  innovate each year. If you haven't visited them I urge you to go, you won't be disappointed.
     After all this excitement we were sad to see Al go. Mind you, she nearly didn't, she was flying back from La Rochelle on the 16th August the day when all France wanted to go to the Ile de Re. We were 90 minutes covering four k on the La Rochelle by-pass and nearly missed boarding, probably would have done except for Al's status. She said there were fifteen vacant places on the flight from people who had missed it and we saw several people in tears at the airport. Not a credit to the town. we will avoid this date in future!
    Well, after all this furore, we are finding it hard to return to everyday life, but we will manage it eventually. I might even resolve to blog more regularly...

  Bye for now, going to drink a soothing cuppa

Extorting money with menaces

  I'm sorry to have to say that I have been the victim of a greedy but plausible criminal in the last few weeks. This menacing personage demanded my money, which he said he needed urgently to pay off his debts, pay for his medical treatment and for his cost of living, non of which had been incurred at my urging. He threatened me that if I didn't pay over 700Eur to this fund he would lock me up or take even more money.
  In fact, as you may have guessed, this extortionist is the French government. All my income arises in England, and is duly taxed at source by another demanding person but that's another story.. We do have a double-taxation agreement between our countries to ensure people only pay one lot of tax. However, the ingenious but dishonest French have decided to ignore this, and take 'Social Charges' (not tax no, perish the thought) on part of my income arising from letting our former home in Plymouth. This money, they say, will be used to pay off the National debt, repay some of the overspend on medical costs and on general social costs. I feel that the French National Debt is not my business, and my health cost is passed on to the English National Health  so this is sheer extortion akin to a hold-up. I am thinking of ways and means to avoid this daylight robbery. Has anyone any ideas?
  Bye for now,Going to sit and fume...

A Sunsoaked Village in the Limousin

Last Thursday we visited a charming small French town of about 1200 residents, quite typical of many French country towns. It has a couple of cafés, bars, a dentist, two small garages, even a blacksmith. It has a charming little church, with stained glass windows and a sunny grass square in the middle. It also has the distinction of a narrow-gauge tramway to the county town.
   Some time ago, the Authorities in charge of this little burg decided to hold a census and assembled all the inhabitants, men women and children in the grassy town square. The citizens duly assembled, no doubt laughing and joking, were counted and then the men were divided into three groups in separate buildings, while the ladies and their children were gathered in the church. Then at a given signal, all were cut down with machine-gun, rifle and hand grenades fire. Petrol from the garages was used to set fire to all the houses and the church. Only a handful of the citizens escaped....
  You can see what remains of this little place in the following photos.

  Yes, I expect you've guessed, this village is the town of Oradour sur Glane, over 600 of the citizens were murdered by the Nazis seventy years ago. The town was never rebuilt on its previous site, which has been preserved to remind posterity of the dreadful deeds carried out by the SS 'Das Reich' on unarmed civilians in reprisal for an ambush by the Resistance. I defy anyone to visit the site and remain un-moved, I had tears in my eyes several times and we still seemed to smell smoke in the air after seventy years have passed.  A sobering thought is that things have not changed much, some of the scenes in Gaza look very familiar, whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation out there.

Bye for now, trying to wash away memory with a cup of tea......

This little girl's pram still remains in front of the Church altar