Based in the beautiful countryside of South West France, we explore some of the experiences of occupation and resistance. Our guest speaker on this tour is Martyn Cox, who lives locally and has interviewed many WW2 resistance fighters. With him we will see how this part of France was 'set alight' by the Maquis and SOE and where many acts of sabotage took place, particularly during the period following D-Day in June 1944. We visit resistance museums, drop zones and safe houses, meeting some of the veterans and exploring the places where Allied agents and local resistance fighters lived under constant danger, risking their lives in pursuit of the enemy. This tour is a unique opportunity to visit rural France and sense the atmosphere of those wartime years.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Monday): Afternoon flight London Heathrow – Toulouse. Drive to Cahors, with introductory talk from Martyn Cox en route. Dinner and overnight, Cahors (3 nights).
Day 2: In the morning, we visit the resistance museum in Cahors and some associated special sites in the town. Lunch break, followed by a visit to SOE parachute landing sites and other places of interest near Loubressac, St Céré.
Day 3: In the morning, a short conference in Cahors – an opportunity to meet local veterans. Following lunch, we continue our exploration of resistance sites, including a viaduct sabotaged by American special forces (OSS), an SOE dropping zone, and a safe house.
Day 4: We drive to Brive-la-Gaillarde, visiting the resistance museum and other sites of interest. We travel on to Tulle, where more than 90 Frenchmen were murdered by the Das Reich Division in June 1944. Following lunch, we visit the resistance museum and then on to Limoges for a two night stay. Before dinner, a talk on resistance operations in the Limoges area.
Day 5: Oradour-sur-Glane, site of the infamous massacre of the villagers by the advancing Das Reich Division in June 1944. Following a group lunch, we visit Salon-la-Tour and Sussac. We conclude at the Limoges resistance museum. In the evening, an opportunity to make your own dinner arrangements.
Day 6: On our final day, we travel south to Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, where the film Charlotte Gray (based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks) was filmed. During the morning, we also visit an RAF dropping zone, a Das Reich attack site, and the Maquis d'Ornano memorial. Following lunch at Saint-Antonin, we drive to Toulouse airport for our return flight to London.