Chateau of Craux 010Originally uploaded by Joyz Life.
Whew! Can’t believe I went a whole week without Internet access. Thanks to one of Don’s colleagues who offered the use of his “mountain home,” I spent the time in a mountainous area in middle-southern France called the Ardeche. The town I stayed in is called Antraigue-sur-Volane (roughly translated that’s Antraigue on the volcano). The town is perched on a ledge of volcanic rock. Just like the area north of here, En Velay (see Le Puy entry) volcanic activity formed many of the mountain peaks. Some rock outcroppings are old lava flows.
A few days ago I visited Craux castle built in the 14th to 17th centuries outside the town of Genestelle that was actually built in the crater of an extinct volcano. What a beautiful setting! Really old chestnut trees (In Medieval times, in this region chestnut trees were cultivated, harvested and the nuts dried, ground and used as flour.) are on the site and the exterior of the castle is in pretty good condition. It is undergoing restoration — the interior is empty and “off-limits.” Remnants of what was probably walls around a garden lie downhill from the castle structure.
What was really incredible was having the site all to myself to explore. This area is a bit remote — the 
castle is on a single-lane road — and I visited on a Friday. They certainly don’t see many Americans here – mostly French and some German tourists. What was unique to this last phase of my sight-seeing was how many of the sites I visited there were few or no other visitors. A nice change from the hordes of tourists we encountered at our cruise stops.
