I ❤ NEW YORK CITY - 2

Big cities usually have big churches and NYC is no different except in the age of the church.

St Patrick's is  really beautiful and pristine inside.

Big buildings is what NYC is all about.

Impressive buildings like this weird one called The Oculus. 

It is built as part of the 9/11 Memorial complex and is actually a Transport Hub 

- a modern day Central Station - 

with a complex of subway lines below and a huge open hall lined with shops above.

And this one with its viewing platform ( unfortunately not open yet ) on the 100th floor

Here's a weird looking building for you.

 It is a staircase to nowhere built purely as a tourist attraction from what I can see.

Of course no visit to NYC would be complete without a pilgrimage to the 9/11 Memorial.

Two giant holes in the ground where the buildings used to be, constructed as a huge water feature.

All around the edge inscribed in the steel surrounds are the names of all those who were killed on that awful day.... 

 And on their birthday a white rose is placed there .

The opportunity to see wonderful artwork from two of my favourite artists was very special.

Monet

and Van Gogh

How wonderful to get this close !

We walked over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge

Then spent some time exploring DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights.

before walking the length of the Brooklyn Promenade with its fantastic views back to Manhattan's Financial District.

Speaking of promenades of course we walked the Highline.

In all its Autumn glory. 

So much to see and do....

But we gave it a pretty good try !

What a wonderful city.

We ❤️  NYC

Cheers.

CARCASSONNE

The Medieval walled town of Carcassonne sits high above its present day namesake and its strategic position  is very obvious as you gaze down on the sizeable town below on the other side of the river.

It is the largest walled town in Europe with its walls intact 

 

 

and once again we have to thank Napoleon III who recognised the importance of this historical site to the French people and ordered that it be completely restored.

 

Today thousands of people flock to see this mighty construction. When you first arrive you are bowled over by its size.

Walking through the entrance, it towers above you and you wonder at construction that today would need cranes and scaffolding, hard hats and steel toed boots and flocks of cement trucks churning out cement.

Wonderful views of the surrounding countryside can be seen through the windows

and the walls are wonderful to walk..... and climb up and down turrets and watch towers.

Inside the walls are shops and houses,

even this huge church with lovely stained glass windows

and this huge amphitheatre which is still used for performances during the Summer season.

The visit was a strenuous day out with all the walking and climbing 

but we rewarded ourselves with a lunch of the specialty of the area

Cassoulet !

We both eventually had to admit defeat but it was delicious !

Cheers.

 

ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE

I have left this post till I came home from France so that I had time to think about how I would approach it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the day of 10th June 1944 all was peaceful in the little village of Oradour-sur-Glane.
The streets of this little village in the rural heart of the Dordogne Region of France were never busy with people and the war had waged for many years now without actually touching this quiet backwater.
What young men there were left in the village planned a soccer match for the next day and it was the topic of any chance conversations. The children of the village were all busy at their schoolwork in the village school.

Into the village on this bright Summer afternoon marched a band of 200 soldiers from Der Führer Regiment of the 2nd Waffen SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

They gathered together the occupants of this little village.
The men were separated from the women and children who were moved to the church.

Systematically the men were divided up into groups and marched to different barns in the village where they were machine gunned down as they stood and their bodies were then set alight.

Four men survived, wounded but still able to hide by covering themselves with the bodies of their friends and neighbours.

The church door was locked and all escape routes barred, then through the windows the women and children inside were shot and the church set on fire so that those inside who remained alive were burnt. Only one woman escaped through a small window behind the altar.

 642 villagers were massacred including 240 women and 205 children.

Those brave soldiers of the Waffen SS then went about systematically destroying the village, blowing up buildings and setting them alight before leaving a smoking ruin behind.



* photo from the Internet



When French President DeGaul visited the ruins of the village at the end of the war he ordered the village to be preserved as a War Memorial and so it stand today, exactly as the German soldiers left it, a harrowing example of the madness and cruelty of war.



 

 



The rusted car from which the Mayor of the village was dragged on that awful day sits there, an abandoned hulk.

 

 

 

Inside the buildings - shops and homes alike- are remnants of the lives of the people of Oradour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           So many homes had sewing machines !

 



 

 

Charred, rusted and bent but still recognisable !

 

 

 



We visited Oradour-sur-Glane while we were staying in Sarlat.
It was an hour and a half drive away and I can tell you that the drive home was a quiet one as we all digested what we had seen. 

 

There is a large Memorial Centre that leads you to the entrance to the village - so ghostly quiet - and a modern new village constructed just up the road.

If you would like to read more about Oradour-sur-Glane and its horrific story try these:

http://www.oradour.info/ruined/chapter2.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/10289171/Oradour-sur-Glane-France-moments-of-Nazi-massacre-frozen-in-time.html

Cheers.