Saint Gaudens

On Friday Mimi and I were on the road by 9:30 AM. Since we took the major highway to make the best time, the scenery wasn't very interesting until the Pyrenees appeared within the clouds.

 As we got closer the haze lifted and the mountains became real.

We were hoping to be at Jean-Marie's home in Saint Gaudens by 6 PM. We lost some time in Toulouse rush hour traffic, a little more time when I didn't see our last turn, and another 5 minutes when I drove past the house and took us to a horse farm down the road.

I was having no luck with the horse farm lady until Mimi saved the day by showing her Jean-Marie's name. Then she pointed to a house on the far side of her field.

We pulled into the driveway at 6:30.

Fortunately there were fellows to carry our luggage up the narrow stairs leading from the garage to the main floor. Once we navigated those stairs the rest of the house was spacious.

We met Jean-Marie's wife, Francoise, and their 3 children: Guilhem, Raphael, and Elisabeth.

Many years ago I had a cat named Piper who was a great hunter. One day she brought a rabbit home and proceeded to eat it from head to haunches, leaving the hind legs and tail for me to dispose of. I had to work at keeping that scene out of my head at the dinner table. The main course was rabbit.

The next morning Mimi and I wandered around the yard. They had already had a frost so I didn't touch the apples to see if they were still firm or really just mush.

One plant had traveled in a dozen directions. These aren't pumpkins, but are similar and make a marvelous soup.

Courgette is French for zucchini. Jean-Marie put this  squash in the zucchini category.

Jean-Marie, his wife Francoise, and their 3 children piled into their car. Danielle and her husband Patrick arrived. Mimi and I climbed into their car and we were off for the day's adventure. We were to meet Cathie at a nearby church, but first we saw this. Doesn't the castle look like it's really just a model? That's because of my zoom lens.

I'm still on zoom, just not as much. The Romans built this. After they left, the church, which is just up the road from where we were standing, was built using stones stolen from the castle. Here Jean-Marie and Danielle, facing the camera, along with Francoise and Patrick, are entering the church grounds.

And here is one of the stones the Romans used in building their castle. It is now part of the church wall.


Cathie joined us. Her "Bear" went back to their home and the rest of us went on to visit the ruins of another castle.

To reach the ruins we first had a short walk through a small village. That's where I stopped to take a picture of this strange garden, complete with a blue bicycle frame...

Then we began climbing a woodland path. I was fascinated by this tree growing out of the rock...

The kids found a short cave up the hill on the right. Since this location was a military fortification, the cave had likely been used by sentries.

I was glad to have my walking sticks because the path had a lot of loose stones. I also appreciated Patrick who made it his mission to see that I didn't fall.

We could finally see our destination...which was going to require a lot more climbing.

I continued, with the theory that slow but constant eventually gets things done.

Turned out that no one was expecting me to reach the second level, much less the top.

This is the chateau de Bramevague. It was a defensive place built with stones for the comte de Comminges and his army sometime between the 12th and 13th century. 

 Imagine building this arch out of all those flat stones! Next level was the base of the tower...

I peeled off the scarf and vest. I was plenty warm enough from the climbing I'd already done!

The tower stairs turned several times and it was so dark that I used my sticks to figure out how high the next step would be. I also used the sticks to haul myself up those steep steps!

Mimi managed to get most of us together (left to right):  Jean-Marie, me, Danielle, Francoise, Cathie, Patrick and Raphael. It was a clear day so the views were phenomenal.

 

 The next picture shows the stone arch as seen from above...

 There was another cave in the rocks across from the tower.

I'm not sure which is more difficult, going up or going down. I chose to go down face first because I could use the sticks to keep me from falling. I also sat and scooted down some of the steps on my butt. It's these situations that remind me of my age...and 80 isn't that far away. Amazing.

You may need to look again, but there's a little lizard, one of two, who paused long enough for me to take his picture. They must hibernate because I haven't seen any this fall in Blanot.  It has been on the chilly side, but here the sun was out and the day was warm.

And this is where we had been...and then we headed down the hill.

We stopped to look at the little church in the little village.

I was again surprised at a sumac being part of the garden, but it does turn a nice red in the fall.

Halloween has come to France!