Château des Baux de Provence

After lunch we drove to Châtau des Baux de Provence, a fortified castle built during the 10th century.  As we drove, suddenly some rocky mountains appeared.  These are the Alpilles (little Alps).  This photo is taken from above and makes the mountains look smaller than they really are. 

 Wikipedia says:

Although already inhabited in the Bronze Age, Les Baux-de-Provence did not really start growing until the medieval period. Built in the 10th century, the fortress and the small town it protects were ruled by the lords of Baux for five hundred years, in the thick of the ceaseless conflicts that ravaged Provence.
But it was also at Les Baux that the most famous minstrels and troubadours of the day sang songs of courtly love to the maidens of the House of Les Baux.
In the 15th century, the lords of Baux were superseded by the barons of the Masons des Comtes de Provence. This was a golden age for the Château, before it came under the control of the kings of France.
From the 16th century on, family feuds and wars of religion brought on the decline of the town until the fortress was pulled down in 1633 on the orders of Louis XIII.

 The medieval village is now filled with souvenir shops and restaurants.  It is a steep, charming walk on cobble stoned streets to reach the château.

 When you reach the top of the village and the château, there are beautiful views in every direction. 

 

There is a lot going on at the castle.  We watched part of a jousting match before watching the catapult demonstration.

This area at the foot of the castle was used for servants and workshops.

 While putting Lillian into the stocks, Pierre managed to give her a good clunk on the head.  Even in the stocks and with a bump on her head, she is still smiling.  

We climbed to the top of one of the towers.  The stairs were very worn from the steps of so many over so many years.  It was super windy--as you can see from the flag.

 

There was a fabulous catapult demonstrations.  The demonstrators were in medieval costumes and got the audience involved.  When they needed help cranking down one of the levers, which involved hard labor, they called for volunteers and some eager men got more of a workout than they were expecting.  They catapulted enormous balloons full of water or white powder.  The last and most powerful catapult sent it right over the edge!

Pierre had checked out a coffee table book from our library called Les Plus Beaux Villages de France .  Baux de Provence was among in the book and it was truly lovely.

Lots of beautiful flowers along the side of the road.  Here are some poppies near where we parked.