June 13 - Visit to Les Beaux - climb to chateau

I lost this post earlier, but here it is again.  Working on the net is sometimes quite discouraging!

But this is one of the "most beautiful villages of France" and all the tourists have discovered it.  It is really beautiful, especially at the top of the town looking over the valley.  It certainly made a great setting for a fortified castle.  And a visit to the castle is a splendid experience as there really weren't so many tourists as this time of year.

One enters the town, as usual, by a very windy road.  I parked on the road leading up to the town as by then I was very tired of driving into and through these small towns.  I was happy to leave the car far a little further away.  The limestone cliffs on the way can't begin to prepare the visitor for the view at the top of the castle

There is a sign at the entrance to the town.

 There are many cafes and stands throughout the main road of the little village.  But the land at the top and the castle remain close to how it must have looked in the Middle Ages.

Here is the group of students awaiting a demonstration of the catapult.  We went on to visit the area that below the castle that looks out over the valley.  Of course it was a little hazy but the visibility was pretty good after all. 

Olive trees

On the way back from the overlook of the valley (just a little taste of the view that would be at the top of the castle, the students were eagerly participating in the catapult demonstrations.

Notice the shell fossil in the center.

A picture of what life might have been like in the Middle Ages

And here's what life is like in the valley today - at least at somebody's pool!

Another impressive catapult

Here begins the climb toward the castle.  Notice the lavender is not yet in full bloom (end of June - July) but still it makes an attractive border.  I'm sure it wasn't there when the castle was built!

Now we are hight enough to see part of the village below.

Notice at left how the castle is built right into the stone cliffs - as you have seen in this blog at Rocamadour.

The stairs at the right lead to the first tower I would have liked to climb but you may be able to see that the staircase is divided into two parts.  The first set of stairs is ok, but the second set has very narrow steps that have a very big depression in the middle.  Also you must step on tip toe or walk up sideways and though a solid railing has been added, I lost my courage to continue.  Maybe 10 years ago, with help, I might have made the top.  Better to save my strength and hope for a better staircase at the next tower!

In the two pictures below, we are getting on toward another part of the castle.

 A representation of what the dining room might have looked like.

More steep stairs!

And below an archery demonstration has just been added since April of 2011.

The woman at the right started her professional life with a number of years in the military.  She had an interest in the instruments of war and also was an archer.  Someone knew of her interest in this area and asked her to take on this job.  She had previously worked here at the castle doing something else.  Joe got a lesson in how to aim the small crossbow.  It's not easy.  I forgotten how much it weighs, but I knew it was pretty heavy to lift.  The larger one was stationary, but travels several hundred meters and can pierce through 4 men and their armor!  I'm afraid neither of us got a bullseye.

After we chatted with the archer, Joe decided to go back down below and wait while I tried to climb to the top.  I wasn't at all sure I could do it, but I thought I'd like to try.

I have to say the views were getting better and better.

Here we are looking across to the area where I tried to climb the deformed steps.  Now I was higher but quite a bit more nervous about continuing on.

Well, as you can see, this is the view I came to see - most of the village now visible below me.

Here I am back down.

On the way out of the castle, there is a little building where one can view an excellent film made from the bird's eye view of a plane of several of these beautiful "hanging villages."  Since it was only 7 euros, I bought a copy to take my to my students and inspire them to go to France to practice their French.  I snapped a few shots of the film - Abbaye Sennenque that we visited earlier below.

as well as the "Arenes de Nimes

But we didn't have time for the famous Pont du Gard near Nimes.  That will be included in the next visit.

Tired we needed some dinner and after buying some water in a small store and chatting with the vendor, we decided to visit his little village a few kilometers away.  He said it was prettier than the one we had planned to drive through and we ended up loving it.  See next blog.