Sunday 18th September 2022 – Oradour-sur-Glane, France

 

It was time to move on from Gennes and one of the more interesting campsites that we have stayed on. The toilet block and the permanent cabins were all raised on stilts, which seemed a little strange until we realised that it was in the area that could be flooded by the Loire. Photographs showed cases of flooding and the most recent inundation was in February 2021 when the campsite was under 5 metres of water leaving the floor of the toilet block only just above it.
Our first stop was the nearby Troglodytic village of Rochemenier where more than 40 farms and 250 rooms were excavated from the rock and occupied from the 13^th to the early 20^th century. Unlike many troglodytic dwellings that were dug into hillsides, the ones at Rochemenier were dug under flat farmland. The local ‘falun’ rock was very friable and was quarried to be spread on the land in order to counteract the acidity of the soil. The farmers therefore quarried the stone to form the houses and were paid for the stone that they extracted. As one of the signs pointed out, this meant that the houses cost them nothing, in fact they earned money when creating them. No wonder that there are so many!
Two farms are open to the public and it is possible to see how they made wine by pouring the grapes through a hole in the ground down into the wine press in the farm below. It was really interesting to see how the families lived in the farms and even worshiped in an underground chapel. Well worth a visit.
After lunch, we drove to Oradour-sur-Glane and parked in the very popular aire.

Photos:  The toilet block at Gennes – imagine the floodwater reaching the floor of the building; Some photos of previous flooding; One of the farms at Rochmenier; A wine press with light coming from the grape chute; A bakery with a dough box on the left; Inside one of the farmhouses – it could be quite cosy with the fire lit.