Castles, castles everywhere!

Anne may have stolen my thunder here, but never mind.  During our Dordogne river cruise, they quoted the astounding fact that there once used to be 15,000 castles in the Dordogne or Périgord region.  I can only assume a rather liberal interpretation of ‘castle’ or the assumption of the old saying that “a man’s home is his castle”.  Never the less, any view of the countryside from a high vantage point will reveal stately homes in any direction.  As a result, our continuing exploration of the Périgord took us to Chateau Biron at the very southern edge of the region.  While many medieval castles of the Loire were rebuilt as Renaissance chateaux, the Périgord has a substantial number of traditional castles remaining, many of some substance.  Chateau Biron is one, combining both its medieval origins and Renaissance upgrades.  It’s one I had never heard of before and well off the beaten path, but impressive in scale and architecture and worth a visit if you’re a castle fanatic like myself.  As Anne pointed out, the Biron family tree ends in 1793 with the word ‘guillotine’.  I do think the French Revolution has some things to answer for!

In my last post I posted a picture of Castlenaud on the Dordogne.  This is the most visited castle in the Périgord as it contains excellent displays of castle life and a collection of reproduction medieval siege engines.  I visited this a few years back so won’t dwell on it further.  However, just up the river is one of our favorite medieval castles, Beynac.  One of the most dramatic castles in France, it stands on a cliff overlooking the riverside village below.  One of the former Baron’s of Beynac was Richard I (Lionheart) of England and was poised to watched over Castlenaud just up the river (although which one was French or English changed frequently over the years).  It’s one of the most authentic feeling castles we’ve been in and love the impact it makes as you approach from any direction.  Finally, we took a drive up to the Bastide village of Domme.  The Bastides were villages that were built on top of high hills for protection.  The villages themselves are picturesque, but the views of the surrounding countryside are often their most appealing feature.  Until next post.