Our Easter trip to France started from Portsmouth which is the major operational base for the British Navy. It is amazing how small these modern fighting ships are compared to our car ferry; we looked down to the decks of destroyers, harrier carriers and aircraft carriers. The historic ships Victory, Nelson's flag ship and Warrior the first ironclad sailing ship adjoin the base and other older fortifications.

The ferry arrived at Caen in the afternoon after a 5 hour trip and our first night's accommodation was at a small Chateau, Chateau du Quengo which was near Rennes and had been in the same family since the 1800's; the building was on a small farm and had its own detached chapel. The owner told us some stories from WW2 when the Germans shared half the house with them - her grandmother was quite a character and stood up to the Germans. The oldest part of the chateau was 400 years old and even the newer section was over 200 years old - some floors sloped and door frames were not quite square, great atmosphere and we had the run of half of the house with all their possessions. Breakfast at a wonderful old table that could seat about 12 - fresh croissants and a choice of homemade jams and jellies.

The purpose of the trip was to take Janet to the Millau Bridge, a bridge designed by Sir Norman Foster,,UK most prominent architect, which is a huge distance from England!! We spent the first two days getting there driving on tollways till 7 at night. Our second night was at a small hotel on the River Lot in a small village called Bouzies - quite a lovely setting when we finally got there. On towards the bridge in pouring rain to find that the rain was so heavy we couldn't see much at all!! We visited the information centre (showing the bridge under construction all in sunny weather of course!) which was most interesting and then drove over the bridge. From the valley below we couldn't see a thing which was a pity.

The rest of the time was then getting back up to Caen to catch our ferry back!! We did see a few chateaux - Chateau Chambord, Chateau Chenonceau and Chateau Chamfort, as well as some lovely towns and villages in the Loire. Dordonge and Lot River valleys. Chenonceau was given to Diane de Poitiers , a mistress of Louis ? and is a beautiful building crossing the Cher River. It was on the demarcation line of Vichy France and many escaped from Occupied France through the chateau.Chateau Chambordwas built as a hunting lodge for Francois 1 but he only spentabout 45 days there and it was added to and enlarge by subsequent French Kings - it is a fairytale castle with the most amazing roof full of chimneys, domes, cupolas, spires etc whichyou could walk around, viewing the entertainments prepared by the king for his guests!!

Near Limoges we read of the story of old village of Oradour-sur-Glane and visited the site. It has been preserved as a ruinsince 1945, 4 days after D-Day. On 10 June 1944 the Germans slaughtered the population of 648 inhabitants (6 actually survived) and burnt the village. The village was quite sophisticated having its own tram service, modern shops, baker, doctor etc. The whole village was rounded up and herded into the village square. The men and women were separated, women and children were sent to the church and the men to about five separate courtyards. On a signal the men were machine gunned at the sites and the church was bombed and set on fire; one woman escaped and five men. The massacre was then covered up by burning the bodies in a mass fire. A new war memorial and story of the massacre and the rise and fall of the 3rd Reich adjoins. A new town has been built on the other side of the main road.

We also visited the Normandy beaches which had been involved in D-Day and saw the memorials on Juno Beach and Sword Beach, as well as the remains of some fortifications.

On our return to Portsmouth the sun came out and we sat on the back deck of the ferry enjoying the sun for a few short hours!!!

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