53304SWE
Saumur, Rocamadour, Cahors
Routes
Rocamadour visit with TM, no entrances
- It is possible to do a short detour via Fontevraud Abbey, 15 Km south east of Saumur (picture stop). Take the N947/D147 and add 15 to 30 minutes to your journey time
- Oradour is a highly recommended stop should you have time.
Oradour-sur-Glane (possible visit en route time permitting)
Oradour is a historic village left as a memorial by de Gaulle to the 642 French men, women, and children alike, massacred on the 10th June 1944 in this village. See TM notes. Your group can walk around the deserted village. All the women and children were gathered and locked in the church to which was eventually set fire. The men were gathered separately before and were either executed by bullets, or for many, burnt alive, and shot in the legs in the meantime so they could not escape, dying in the most atrocious pain.
Take N 141 westwards of Limoges. Then D9 to Oradour-sur-Glane. Allow 1 hour for the visit and add 30 mins to driving times.
Nowadays it is a ghost town. Ruins of what made everyday life 80 years ago remain. It can be quite a shock.
There is a large free car/bus park up above. You then walk the group down to the main entrance/reception where there is also a book/souvenir shop.
Oradour Bus Parking:
Entrance to village is free. There is a small fee to visit the museum (student rates available) but you may only have time to visit the village. Toilets are located on the left before going through to the village.
Please ensure that the group respect the quietness of this place (as they would at St. Laurent). There is no particular route to take in the village, however it is worth offering to lead/point out the underground memorial near the cemetery (the room is small so don’t try and get a group of 30 in there in one go) and the church at the bottom of the street (see map). Here, you will find all the names of those burnt. They are listed in families and give their ages. There is also a substantial collection of many items recovered.
If you decide to do the visit, you could eat in the new village of Oradour (next to the destroyed memorial village). It has restaurants and cafes. Closed on Monday.
ROCAMADOUR – Allow 2 hours for the visit and free time
To get to Rocamadour you have to take some rather winding roads. If anyone in your group suffers from travel sickness do be sure to let them know so that they take any medicine necessary or bring a sick-bag!
Your bus can pick up and set down by the lifts in l’Hospitalet where there are toilets.
Ask your driver to drop you by the lifts in l’Hospitalet. From there you can walk your group across the carpark and down the path to the left of the ramparts which leads to the Chemin des Croix. There are two paths which start near the ramparts, one of which bypasses the first few switchbacks. Or people can take the pay for elevators – €4.40 round trip, €2.80 single.
Rocamadour Bus Parking:
At the end of the Chemin des Croix you walk through a large archway, which brings you out into the courtyard of the 7 chapels. Give explanation (see TM notes) and a few minutes for the group to go inside (Chapel of Notre Dame with the black virgin is the most interesting and is next to the tomb of St Amadour).
There is a religious souvenir shop in this courtyard.
Walk your group down the Grand Escalier (where the pilgrims would have approached the chapels) to rue de la Couronnerie and give free time for lunch/snacks/shopping. You can tell the group to meet at the bus park at the end of the street.
Should you have anyone who has problems walking there is a lift, in two parts (see map). However, be wary of closing times. Last lift at 7pm (9pm in Jul/Aug – check as earlier in low season).
Meet your group at the bottom of the elevator.
Either walk back to the bus or take the elevator. Some teachers may remember a bus park at the bottom. This is no longer the case.