17/7/13 (2)

The shops are beautifully set up with unusual products such as this candied fruit.

We are heading for a tour of the Castle & home of the many reigning big wigs. Because there is no water (it's in the river outside the walls) the moat is dry...so it was perfect for growing fruit & vegetables for the inhabitants.

The bridge leading from the City to the Castle...note the timber structures on top of the parapet walls & I'll fill you in on them later. Because the City was constantly being changed & built, you'll note that there are several different periods of building styles including the roof types.

The Castle Courtyard with battlements on the left & living & church on the right.

Another inner courtyard but this one used to be covered & had several levels. You can see on the middle of the left hand wall a large niche...this was a large fireplace in the main living area.

The view over the 'New City' separated from the old by the river (tree area). The old city was prominent until around the fall of the inquisition & then the new city became more influential. Now that the old city has been renovated, it has again become the King of the Castle (so to speak).

A good example of the inner & outer walls & the ramparts connecting over 3km's of walkways.

A photo taken from the same spot but looking back into the confines of the old city. At its height , it housed 1,000's of people & was ruled by both Lords & King Louis IX. King Louis was responsible for a lot of the medieval building & the 2nd wall when it was gifted to him after a siege to remove the reigning Lord who was sympathetic to religions other than the Pope & the Catholic Church.

If you refer back to the photo of the timber on the outside of the Castle walls, this is a close up & there is a walkway & on the left is an area that can access the slits you can see outward & downward for the use of archers arrows etc.

Another view over the city. The inquisition terrified the French people from the 1200's to the French Revolution in the 1700's & during that time many 1,000's were put to death for minor infractions or for their different beliefs. In fact the locals say they still don't like Parisians because their King listened to the Pope & supported the unholy period that followed.