Friday, September 18, 2009

Le Château De Val

This impressive medieval (fifteenth century) construction once dominated a grand valley. Now the valley is a lake formed by a dam on the Dordogne River at a town called Bort-les-Orgues.

The castle and tour boat dock. The marina is out of the photo to the left.

We drove up to the château after a lunch of pizza and wine in Mauriac. Ken, Lewis, and I took Callie on a long walk around a little bay to get a view of the castle without the marina docks in front of it. It was a nice walk -- Callie loved it -- and we were rewarded with a great view.

Another angle. You can see two kids sitting on the rock at the bottom of the photo; they were swimming in the lake.

We didn't go inside nor did we take a boat ride on the lake. There were a few people around, including a busload of folks that boarded one of the tour boats for a cruise. We also spotted a couple of kids jumping off the rocks at the foot of the castle into the lake below. I'll bet that water was cold.

Another view with the lake. I removed the white satellite dish that you can still see in the middle photo.

7 comments:

  1. I was wondering what that white spot was. Now I know. Beautiful pictures.

    Verification word is thers. I wish that chateau were mine, with all the money that goes with it!

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  2. Aujourd'hui on fête les Nadèges en France. Alors, si vous lisez mon blog aujourd'hui, bonne fête, Nadege!

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  3. I loved this castle! I'm going to email you the photos of the courtyard which had a handsome metal horse. The gift shop had lots of posters of the chateau made by different artists.

    It was a good place.

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  4. Merci Walt! My niece sent me a email; can't believe I forgot my own "fete". I love the pictures of the castle. I might have to give Cantal a look when I go back to France. From my parent's window in Rodez, we can see the "Plomb du Cantal".

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  5. chm, it turns out that Ken and I took the satellite out of one photo but not the other in each of our blogs. Quite a coincidence!

    evelyn, thanks for the photos you sent!

    nadege, I think it's worth the trip!

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  6. Now this is what I think of when I think of France - history! Gauls, Celts, Carolingians and what not.
    the

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  7. urspo, and there's plenty of that! Especially the what not. ;)

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