While staying at Sophie’s parents, we took an overnight trip to Aveyron, the department just east of the Lot. Our first stop was the charming little village of Belcastel. Visiting it felt like being in a fairy tale. Every direction we turned revealed a new scene in the fairy tale: a 1000-year-old castle on top of a huge rock above the village; ancient stone cottages with slate tile roofs clinging to the hillside below; a 15th-century church nestled across the river; a stone-arch bridge connecting it to the village; lush, bucolic valleys meandering in every direction; distant hills silhouetted with farms and trees.
We started our visit at the top with a tour of the Château de Belcastel. Its story began as a 9th century chapel and grew over the centuries as knights and nobles built their legacies throughout the turbulent medieval times. By the end of the 16th century, however, it had been abandoned and left to ruin. In 1973, a famous French post-war reconstruction architect named Fernand Pouillon discovered the ruins and spent his remaining years working to restore it, while helping the village do the same. Today, the village is officially one of France’s “Most Beautiful Villages” – and the château is a tourist attraction, a private residence (owner is a NYC gallery owner), and a small hotel complete with a little outdoor swimming pool.
The tour of the castle is self-guided and well done. You get to see much of the castle with the exception of the private residence and hotel areas. The castle featured all the essentials of medieval living including a moat, drawbridge, keep, chapels, dungeon, living quarters, medieval toilet (a hole hanging over the cliff) and outdoor courtyards. The highlight for us, though, were the amazing views down to the village and across the valleys.
From the castle, we strolled down the cobblestone streets through the village. It was interesting that many of the houses along the street had entrances to their upper levels from the hillside and their lower levels from the opposite side below. We crossed the bridge and had a picnic lunch by the river, then some ice cream and coffee at a restaurant next to the church. After walking back up the hill, we took one last look at the fairy tale town before hitting the road.
We ended our day in the city of Millau which lies below the world’s tallest bridge – the Viaduc of Millau. It was built 20 years ago and at over 1100 feet, it is taller than the Eiffel Tower! It connects two plateaus 2.4 kilometers apart over the Tarn river and saves drivers between Paris and Montpellier an average of one hour of driving. Construction of the bridge was completed in an impressive three years and is considered one of the crowning achievements of French engineering. We visited a little museum near the entrance to the bridge that explained more about its construction, then we drove on one of the roads that went under the bridge to get a different view. Very impressive!
We stayed overnight in Millau and ate at a restaurant that served local Aveyron dishes and wines. Cheers!
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