10 Specialty Museums in Haute-Loire That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By 690sf - Vancouver, Canada

It is always inspiring to meet someone brave & heroic, who has risked their life to protect others, but to learn of a village where all residents come together to do that as a community, makes one’s heart sing & one’s skin tingle. Just such a village known for giving refuge is Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a commune in France, where residents are mostly French Protestants, also known as French Huguenots, themselves persecuted in the 16th & 17th century by the then French Catholic government. This commune has just been left a very large sum of money in the will of one of those it gave refuge to some 80 years ago. What wonderful karma for this well-deserving & brave French village. It was linked in with others in the French Resistance & it is estimated that it alone saved some 5,000 Jewish children. The will is still in the process of having assets distributed but reports are the amount is some €2 million. The donor, it is reported, wishes the money to be spent on educational projects and scholarships. Again, so well deserved. The commune houses a well-visited & well-designed memorial museum, which tells of the heroic acts of villagers during WW2 & of the circumstances of those the village rescued. It has supported many groups fleeing religious & political persecution & does this to this very day. There is also a remembrance garden. C-s-L is in beautiful surroundings, with the nature in which it is located as inspiring as the nature of the village with its history of extreme generosity to those in dire need of it. Posted by S Fuller