Vacation

On that Saturday morning, many of the villagers were at home, working in preparation for Sunday, when the village was hemmed in and eventually destroyed killing 642 people. Only six people survived the massacre. Shortly after the war, Charles de Gaulle visited Oradour and he decided that the remains of the old village should be given the function of a monument. And that's what it became. The village remained exactly as it was left on June 10, 1944 after the destruction and that is how it still looks today. Only time has left its mark since then.

Rarely did I see a more impressive monument. A rusted-out car in the village square, a sewing machine in a house whose walls no longer stand, a petrol pump in what must once have been the village's shopping street, a melted-down clock on the floor of the church, an entrance to the monument that was placed under the village so that it too would not get in the way of the monument. And above all the indescribable stillness.

Also this summer millions of tourists somewhere in the world will come across something unknown that touches and moves them. The vacations have begun and then many people go on a trip. Some read away the books that have been waiting for them all year, others go for a mountain hike, visit the beach or doze off in a hammock somewhere on a green hill. Everyone fills it in in their own way, but what almost everyone does actively during a vacation is make trips: in search of art, monuments, architecture. In a museum - the Louvre in Paris, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Tate in London - and on the streets - in Rome, Chicago, in the French countryside or closer to home. Visiting art and culture is a frequent (additional) goal of many a vacation trip. It brings new experiences, new histories, a new perspective from a new environment.

Many of our readers will also be taking arts and culture trips this summer, and we're curious to hear about them. Did you come across something that you think is worth sharing, let us know. Art, monuments or architecture, and what struck you in particular, where and why. Your experience - short or longer - preferably accompanied by a photo, will then be placed on our website from September: as travel tips for future vacations and as inspiration for your fellow subscribers.

We wish you a great summer!