When we eventually got to the first castle, Chateau de Peyrepertuse, first mentioned in 1070, it was well worth the drive - it was impressive in the extreme. Built at the top of a cliff, it would have been almost inpenetrable. The climb alone would have worn out most invaders - or at least those who had been indulging in the local cuisine!
The sights inside the castle were also pretty impressive and the view from the top was amazing. The castle is in two parts a lower part and an upper part. You climb to the lower part from the carpark. You wouldn't have those sorts of paths in Australia, but they're fairly sturdy by French standards. The top section is reached by steps carved out of the natural quartz rock over 750 years ago, so they're quite worn and very slippery. All that separates the steps from an 800m drop is a rope handrail. The climb is definitely not for the faint hearted and it took me quite a bit of mental strength to get up to the top. Meanwhile children were happily running up and down the steps while parents were trying to pretend they didn't exist. I think parenting is non-existent in France. But that's another story for another day. Here are some shots of the castle.
(can you tell I'm terrified)
(can you tell that Paul's not)
After this we had lunch at a nearby Auberge. We had the set menu, which was a salad for entree and a casserole for main. The salad is definitely not a salad for vegetarians!! There were 2 types of cold meat and 3 terrines and a bit of lettuce and tomato for garnish. The casserole was pork, olive and capsicum and was served with chips. It was fantastic. Very homely, but very tasty.
The next castle was Queribus, first mentioned in 1020, which was agian built high on a rocky mountain. The views from here were again amazing, but there were so many out of control children and so many steps, my focus wasn't really on taking photos, but getting out of there alive.
This is Paulie pretending that he's not being deafened by the screams of 400 young children who are bored and want to go home, but whose parents aren't willing to listen or entertain.
We chose to ignore Karen on the drive home and go back by the dual carriageway. It was through the foothills of the Pyranees, so was quite windy, but the roads were wide, and recently sealed and lanes were marked, so it was practically a motorway compared with what we had to contend with on the way there. Karen is now being heavily monitored.
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