Saturday and Brancion

Donkey at the Cluny market that carries groceries for folks

It was Margery's only Saturday and my last, so we had to get to the Cluny open market. It's an experience to just walk through, but even better as the place to pick up fresh fruits and veggies. I also couldn't resist getting another meringue and one of Margery's goals is to taste every French pastry possible.

We came home for a very sweet lunch. 

Nearing Brancion Entrance

 

 

Entrance to Brancion

Our next jaunt was to visit Brancion which was once a fortified medieval village.

We took the long way to get there and discovered that roads were being set up for motorcycle races. Fortunately they wouldn't be until the next day.

To the left is the entrance to the village. From where Margery is standing she can see the opening for a weapon and the ledge on which to stand that could be used for defending this portal.

Look closely and metal bars can be seen. The walls had been collapsing and they are being pushed back as part of their repair.

The Castle Keep

We decided to visit the remains of the castle, the existence of which can be traced back to the 10th century.

Brancion survived until the religious wars of the 16th century. The castle was burned in 1594. It is slowly being restored.

To the right is a picture of the keep. We managed to climb to its top...and counted a total of 158 stair steps.

There's a steep drop-off out this door as well as on the other sides.

It was interesting to see the remains of fireplaces, decorative windows, defensive architecture, and even a double latrine.

There was an interesting room with posters of spices.   

When our climb shifted to indoors, we found ourselves in a room decorated with Griffins...I just had to have a picture of these...

The wooden steps were easy to climb, but the last steps were inside a narrow tower with just an iron post in the center to hang onto.

There was a couple on the roof who gladly took a picture of us in front of that little tower...

If you look back to the picture of the castle keep, you may notice the top of this little tower.

The view of the countryside from up here was superb...well worth the climb...but it was also interesting to be able to look down upon the castle remains...

As seen from the castle keep...

As we were leaving the castle we took a little time to pet a cat that was enjoying the sunshine.

It was around 5 PM. We found a small cafe, obviously getting ready to close for the day, but the gal was willing to make a crepe for Margery.

I wandered off to find the church which looks out over this broad valley.

I returned to the cafe and sent Margery with her crepe to go see the church and its view while I sat by the covered market to enjoy an ice cream cone.

Suddenly the castle cat showed up to get more petting.


We took the shorter route home. I was delighted to remember the roads and even Elisabeth's shortcuts.

We passed by the Chateau de Nobles (to the right).

We needed to get home for dinner and I wanted a quick nap because this was to be bonfire night.

On our way to Brancion I had taken a picture of the preparations to celebrate the Feux de St Jean. It wouldn't be lit until after 10 PM when it would finally be dark. We headed for the festivities at 10:30.

The bonfire was burning when we arrived, but we were more interested in getting a glass of wine and a waffle at the tent. We had the chance to speak with a number of people before finding seats at a picnic table near the band. Then Elisabeth arrived and introduced us to Genvieve and Patrick.

Before the evening ended (for us...others stayed til the early hours of the morning) we were invited to visit Genvieve and Patrick on Sunday afternoon to see their home with its indoor lavoir.