21 Feb 2015

Cadillac and the Garonne valley




Château de Cadillac

No, not the car, but the town on the Garonne river. The sun came out for just one day this week so we took the hint and hit the road. We did a loop through the Entre Deux Mers region (" between two waters" ) and followed the Garonne from Bordeaux down to Cadillac.  We hadn’t visited this town for many years but remembered that it had an attractive château overlooking the centre ville.
one of the old gateways into the centre ville

We parked outside the château entrance, but the place is undergoing  some restauration and is surrounded by cyclone fencing so we couldn’t re-visit.

the second gateway

We strolled down the hill into town.

the church of Saint Blaise is opposite the château on top of the hill

Cadillac is a bastide town founded in 1280. That means it is built on a grid with the market hall at the centre. It is a pleasant village on the riverbank surrounding a traditional open market hall made of the local stone with commune offices above.

The open market hall with it's high arches 

Across the river is the town of Sauternes and Château d’Yquem where they produce a Premier Cru Supérieur wine, one of the finest white wines in the world. It is said that, with proper  care, a bottle of Château d’Yquem can keep for a hundred years.

Château d'Yquem

Nearby is the Château Malromé. This was the home of Toulouse Lautrec’s mother and the place where he died in 1901. You can visit and see some of the public rooms in the house. It’s in a beautiful setting in the countryside and , while not a grande château, it is a large country home surrounded by vineyards.

Château de Malromé

We also visited the medieval chateau at Langoiran. This is now in ruins but has a caretaker living on site so for just €3.00 each we could clamber about to our heart's content. The chateau is on a hillside overlooking the valley of the Garonne river. You can see why this was considered an advantageous position for spotting an approaching enemy.

the entrance across the moat - a rider would have to get off and walk his horse through this gateway


16th century accomodation buildings





The chateau was mentioned in documents in the 11th century but the current fortifications date from the 13th. The dungeon was added in the 14th  and more buildings in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

There is always a chapel for use by all those who lived in the chateau.


modern painting in medieval style over the altar

windows in the chapel with family crest - what a view !

There are wooden pews in this room as though it is still used for worship.

the family crest on the stone altar

a sunny seat by the window - bring your own cushion


very steep and shallow staircase - difficult for an attacker to fight his way up here

We climbed the staircase from the lower courtyard to the upper where the family would have lived.

steep walls everywhere

no floors left in the donjon (tower) 

see how thick these walls are in the dungeon - no tunnelling out of here

Mostly the work that continues here appears to be just to stop any further degredation.
  

and you think you have cracks in your walls !

the one room that has received some restoration in the family apartments
The view from the top is magnificent...

south across the Garonne river valley and the chateau's vineyards

The pictures are a little hazy as this was still a winter’s day and the vines are bare, but you can see how beautiful this area can be in summer.

This little stone man was perched on the roof of the chapel looking like an early version of ‘The Thinker”.




Hope you have enjoyed our day out.....


Bonne semaine mes amis









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