Come stroll with me...

… around Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure and Angoulême...

The old heart of Angoulême

Chasseneuil is a small town (population around 3,000) in Charente which is now part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France.  I was first here about ten years ago.  I'd come to watch the Circuit des Remparts, one of the few remaining road events for classic cars.

The circuit takes place in September, across a whole weekend, within the old heart of the city of Angoulême.  When I was last here, I was captivated by the whole thing - the fabulous old cars, the squares filled with displays of vehicles from Bugatti and Delahaye right up to Renault Alpine and MGs or Minis!  It was a truly amazing weekend that inspired a short story which you can read Here

And, Chasseneuil is ideally placed to stay if you want to take in the event for yourself.  I camped, as always, and the site (Les Charmilles) is on the outskirts of town with easy access to the D941.  The D941 leads to the D11 and D12 which will take you along quiet backroads into the city centre and close to the station, where you can park.  From there it's a short uphill walk into the old heart of the town which is wholly given over to the cars. Enjoy!

The circuit isn't the reason for my visit this time, though.  I've come because there's a piece of history I want to investigate.  The campsite sits just off the D27 which links with the RN141 on the south side of town.  If you leave the site on rue des Écoles and turn right where it meets the D27, you will see a large monument up ahead.  The Mémorial de la Résistance was completed in 1951.  The grounds and the attendant necropolis are the resting place for more than 2000 combatants who gave their lives, including Claude Bonnier.

Born in 1897 in Paris he became an engineer.  Mobilised in 1939 he was assigned to a unit in Chartres.  After France was invaded, he quickly joined the resistance, working first in Algeria and then in region B of the occupied zone - the western seaboard of Charente-Maritime, Charente, Gironde and the area down to the Pyrénées.  At that time, here in Chasseneuil, there was an existing active and robust group of fighters.  It was Bonnier who re-organised the maquis of Charente (including the original group in Chasseneuil set up by André Chabanne, Guy Pascaud and Hélène Nebout) and who christened them the Bir Hacheim.

In 1944, betrayed by an informer, Bonnier was lured to Bordeaux where he was arrested and imprisoned on February 9th.  Realising that the information he held was of great value and would cost many lives if he were to be persuaded to reveal it, he took his own life by means of a suicide pill and died the following day.

His remains, and those of his wife who died in 1991, now lie in the crypt here in Chasseneuil along with the remains of many others.
If you take a few moments to study the board on the road by the monument you will discover that, between Angeac and Chasseneuil, there are bollards at regular intervals beside the route. This is the route Claude Bonnier, Chemin de la Liberté in remembrance of Monsieur Bonnier and his resistance fighters.