Friday 10th April
Another beautiful day, just perfect for the walk/climb up to the Chateau Gaillard. Walking by the river to watch a few huge barges pass by, then up a very steep road and onto a narrow footpath, climbing up to the viewpoint just below the castle.
That's the viewpoint platform where those people are. They are part of a large group, quite possibly off the cruise ship down below. So we went up to the castle from there.
A bit of history about the chateau. In 1196 Richard the Lionheart, King of England and Duke of Normandy, decided to bar the King of France's way to Rouen along the Seine Valley by building a massive fortress on the cliff commanding the river at Andely. He had it built in a year! At first Philippe Auguste didn't dare attack, but Richard died, was succeeded by King John, and he thought his best bet was to starve the people in the castle by isolating them (this is in 1203). Then he discovered that the occupants had enough supplies for another year, so then decided to take the castle by storm. Despite a lot of difficulty of getting in at first, the French got through the main defences and entered through the latrines and let down the drawbridge to the outer wall and they swarmed in! Three months later Rouen, too, had fallen to the French king.
Amazing views of the twists and turns of the river from various points in the castle grounds. Here we are looking towards our campsite.
Zoomed in, we could see our tiny van!! It's peeping between the trees in the foreground.
Lunch was down by the river at a lovely restaurant where we could sit just behind the wall and watch the passengers return to their ship moored up beside us.
Then a stroll beside the river towards the magnificent cliffs.
Was rather intrgued by No.22 here!
And by the Church,
and towards the town - loved this wall art.
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