Tag Archives: castle

Slivers of History On The Side Of The Road in France

You forget sometimes, you really do. Living pretty well anywhere in Europe means that you are always immersed in history. But it still puts a smile on your face when you are out having a drive through the countryside and you see something like this — the medieval Château de Quéribus — built in 1200 and considered to be the last of the Cathar strongholds.

 

Road sign for the Cathar stronghold Chateau de Queribus in the Aude region of the Midi-Pyrenees in France


 

Perched atop the highest point for miles around, the Cathar stronghold Chateau de Queribus in the Aude region of the Midi-Pyrenees in France


 

We aren’t certain if we will be going back in the late Spring for a visit once the chateau is re-opened for the tourist season. But I wanted to share this little glimpse of the fascinating and ever-present history that is a part of life in France.

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Photo Of The Day: A Classical Corner

Today’s photo is from a visit to the historical Castle Howard in Yorkshire, England.

This elegant statue, sitting alongside a glowing stained glass window, is in the corner of an art-lined passageway in the castle.
 

Statue and stained glass window in Castle Howard, Yorkshire, England


 

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Photo Of The Day: Living In The Past

There were no smiles as they passed us and all four of them concentrated deeply on the task at hand. They took themselves quite seriously, these local Frenchmen of a 20-something age.

Garbed in pseudo-medieval clothing, faces dabbed with fake blood, and carrying handmade arrows, they positioned themselves outside of the somber gray walls of the fortified castle in Fougeres in Brittany. Again and again they shot those arrows into the sky and then shouted unintelligible phrases whilst one of their companions filmed it all on a tiny hand-held movie camera.

If you look carefully you can see that the man on the left has just shot a blue-fringed arrow into the air above his head.

 

Archers outside the walls of the fortified medieval chateau at Fougeres in Britanny, northern France

 

They could have been actors or they could have been what they call in the USA re-enactors — well organised groups of enthusiasts of a particular time period who spend large amounts of free time re-enacting past events. Then again, they could have simply been four local lads who longed to live in a time long gone which is easily summoned up by the atmosphere of this fortress-chateau.

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©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
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