Our maps app kept taking us around and around an unidentified building. Finally we learned the former museum was demolished to build the new cinema (a magnificent modern city building) and the temporary museum was really just an archive space next the the Red Cross building.
But we ended up having an awesome afternoon with volunteer Jean-Luc Couderc. We said if the museum was closed, we did not want to waste his time. He said we had already done something to merit his time. Our American soldiers had left their homelands to come France to free him and his fellow citizens from Nazi control. He felt he could never repay the Allies. He offered us coffee and started explaining the situation in his home, the area of the Lot, during WWII.
So kind of him! Very touching.
We had lots of time to listen and ask questions before we got to go to the archives space.
In the archives, a special library book that concealed a home-made short-wave radio used by the Resistance. A Résistante used parachute silk to make a blouse for her young child. As cloth was scarce and this material came to them as British and American forces parachuted in arms and officers to train the maquis, this made sense.Two containers used to parachute in arms and other supplies to the Resistance in this area. All of the museum’s items had to be packed up and moved from the former building to this temporary space. The new museum is to open in 2025. A reason to come back! So many good stories. During the War, an injured British officer was operated on in a nearby church building. Medical supplies were needed to support his healing. An American parachutist had as a mission bringing those supplies to support his recovery. The Brit recovered and later returned to buy that very church building and live here. The American’s daughter came here just this past summer with her father’s mission log. The museum folks were grateful to her for all she could add to their knowledge.
All of this info comes together in this tiny museum in Cahors. Thankful for the people who give of their time to preserve important history. The resistance to oppression needs to be remembered and honored.
Why does Jean-Luc spend his time like this? It (the war) was not spoken of in the village Jean-Luc grew up in: Cajarc. Quite a story from there, but no marker about the maquis siege, their public shooting of the 3 collaborators who had earlier denounced local young maquis, leading to many deaths, and the final maquis victory over the Germans in early 1944. Thé maquis and other Resistance workers played a role in the eventual defeat of theNazis, but I am only beginning to understand.
Such an unexpected private conversation and amazing tour!
I’m not sure I believe this Marie Curie quotation found in a church just before our visit: “In life, nothing is to be feared, everything is to be understood.”
But we definitely had a chance to understand more today!
Recently retired from an Iowa high school, I was a French & English teacher, now seeking adventure and meaning through walking, learning, listening, and being thankful for the joy that is life. I love faith that leads to greater understanding, love and service, friends that encourage, and family. I hope my blog will inspire, inform, and delight my readers. Beauty is all around us, if we take the time to notice it. I know I don’t have to be in France to blog; it’s just that France has stolen my heart.
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Walking in France from Le Puy en Velay 