Day 23: Uzing. Chateau des Baux, Carrieres de Lumieres, Avignon

Another lovely country drive today brought us to limestone country and the Château des Baux, a citadel allegedly passed down through the descendants of one of the three wise men.  This place is medieval heaven.  A lively little old town, similar to Carcassonne Le Citè with shops and cafès, but at the top of the hill are the remains of the old fortified château as well as working trèbuchets, and some of the best views across the countryside we’d seen to date.

At 11:00 there was a scheduled demonstration of the trèbuchet, and sure enough the second the church bell stopped ringing, there was some distant shouting and two men appeared in medieval costume marching towards the trèbuchets.

The play was all in French, but it was still entertaining, funny and informative.  They called for volunteers from the audience, and all the kids hands went up.  Four were chosen, and they were instructed on how to set the smaller trèbuchet, or La Bricole.  It was loaded with a plastic ball which was successful fired nearly hitting (all part of the act) the young apprentice.

Next up was the firing of the Le Couillard.  A larger trèbuchet that could fire 30-80kg projectiles up to 180 metres.  The guys really hammed it up, loading a solid ball into the sling which they then fired, nearly hitting their commander;  he of course was rightly pissed off and chased both of his subordinates around the field and amongst the crowd waving his sword.  Great fun.

We wandered around some more listening to our audio guides and reading the info signs which gratefully included English.  This place is very interesting and highly recommended.  The château ruins are fascinating.  The château was actually demolished by the wishes of the towns folk when the last baron left.  Or was that a different medieval city.  I'm losing track....  I'll have to download the app and listen again.

There was a demo on some of the melee weapons used in the period, again with some very keen, young volunteers from the audience.  This was then followed by a play, again all in French so the importance, though not the drama was lost without translation.  Basically, I believe it was about one of the invasions of the city, and then some sort of reconciliation.  The duelling was very well done, with some comedy thrown in for good effect.

We grabbed a baguette in town for lunch, followed by a Grand Marnier crêpe, and there was no skimping on the Grand Marnier! 

I had a café au lait, but I wished I’d ordered the café crème Michelle had as it was really good.  We are encountering a huge variation in both quality, and interpretation of coffee wherever we go in France, with especially cappuccinos being completely different every time we order.

We walked across then to Carrières de Lumières.  Oh wow!  This is amazing, and certainly a highlight of the trip so far.

They’ve taken an abandoned old limestone quarry, unusual and impressive on its own, as the limestone was cut in blocks from within the mountain creating these huge underground rooms.  Then they project images of art and graphics with a classical music soundtrack across all the walls and floors.  Words, pictures or even video can do it little justice.  A really amazing and memorable experience and we watched both movies twice.

On the way back home we dropped into Avignon and visited the Palais des Paupes.  Avignon was host to a literal oligarchy of French popes who built a huge fortified and richly decorated pope palace with all that money the faithful paid for their prayers to be heard.
Outside the palace was a singer.  She had the most beautiful voice and we waited and listened to a few French songs and operas before going into the palace.

There’s not much left of the palace now apart from an empty shell.  All the rich interiors had either been destroyed by fire, damaged by successive troop inhabitants or simply removed when the popes left.  There are some old frescoes on the walls in some rooms which you aren’t allowed to photograph for reasons unclear.

Before leaving I did a quick visit to the Pont de Avignon, the remains of a medieval bridge built in 1177, that was unsuccessful in withstanding the constant flooding of the Rhône River.

Dinner tonight back in Uzès was at L’Ouste.  I went the Pernod aperitif followed by a tasty steak with foie gras and really nice veggies.   I love the way they do the vegetables all together with olive oil and herbs.  Crème brûlèe again for dessert, with a beautiful custard.

I also finished it with a café crème, which was nothing like the one served up at Château des Baux.
The waitress was really lovely, and had been very helpful and accommodating with my lack of French and her little English; she wished us to enjoy our vacation with a cheeky wink as we left on our last night in Uzès.

Oh, and if you want more pictures!