big Sunday
It was an exciting Sunday here in Clermont Ferrand. Normally that would be an oxymoron, but this was not a normal Sunday.
Jean-Marc and his wife Beatrice picked me up this morning and drove me out to Mauzun - a very small village about 20 miles from Clermont Ferrand. We went to see the castle there, and also because the were having a medieval festival today. The drive itself was really neat because it finally gave me a chance to see some of the Auvergne region. The terrain here is generally rolling hills that are broken up by river valleys. The exception to this is the chain of "puys" (pronounced pwees) that are inactive volcanos.
The primary crops you see being grown are corn and sunflowers. We saw acre upon acre of enormous sunflowers, which is really something.
The castle Mauzun is one of the finest examples of medieval defensive castles I have ever seen. Three perimiter walls of increasing diameter. The middle wall had 16 towers on it - one for each village in the area. These 16 towers were spaced 35 metres apart, which is the approximate distance that an arrow can fly, so that any given tower could be defended by two other towers if under attack. The whole castle is built out of basalt from the site, so it's an impressive black structure.
The site for the castle was chosen for it's height and steep slopes, of course, but also based on the surrounding terrain. There were 10-12 towers erected on various hill tops in the surrounding countryside, all of which were visible from the castle. This allowed for a highly advanced audio/visual communication system where the castle could be notified if any of the nearby villages was coming under attack. The guy who lived in the castle was a count or something, and he was responsible for the protection of all 16 surrounding villages.
There were artists booths, archers, jugglers, spit-roasted honey chicken (excellent). We toured the castle of course, but I was most impressed with the view, and the defenses. We toured some more of the countryside, and then Jean-Marc and Beatrice brought me back to my hotel.
This evening of course was the world cup final between France and Italy. I watched the spectacle from the "Place de Jaude" which is the largest of the town squares here. They had a jumbotron setup, a band playing, and about 20,000 people turned out for it. Painted faces, carrying French flags, air-horns, red white and blue afro-wigs. All ages, all walks of life. On the walk to Place de Jaude, I pass 4 or 5 bars, all of which were also packed. Many of them do not normally have a TV in the bar, but big screens popped up all over town for this event.
The game was very good. An early point off a penalty kick put France ahead, then Italy tied things up at 1-1 shortly thereafter off a corner kick. The score stayed tied straight through to the end. France's captain made a really stupid foul, got caught doing it, and was kicked out of the game. In the end, the game came down to penalty kicks. France missed one of its 5, and Italy did not, so they won. I have to say I was really pulling for France mostly because I wanted to see the resulting party, but no such luck.
Jean-Marc and his wife Beatrice picked me up this morning and drove me out to Mauzun - a very small village about 20 miles from Clermont Ferrand. We went to see the castle there, and also because the were having a medieval festival today. The drive itself was really neat because it finally gave me a chance to see some of the Auvergne region. The terrain here is generally rolling hills that are broken up by river valleys. The exception to this is the chain of "puys" (pronounced pwees) that are inactive volcanos.
The primary crops you see being grown are corn and sunflowers. We saw acre upon acre of enormous sunflowers, which is really something.
The castle Mauzun is one of the finest examples of medieval defensive castles I have ever seen. Three perimiter walls of increasing diameter. The middle wall had 16 towers on it - one for each village in the area. These 16 towers were spaced 35 metres apart, which is the approximate distance that an arrow can fly, so that any given tower could be defended by two other towers if under attack. The whole castle is built out of basalt from the site, so it's an impressive black structure.
The site for the castle was chosen for it's height and steep slopes, of course, but also based on the surrounding terrain. There were 10-12 towers erected on various hill tops in the surrounding countryside, all of which were visible from the castle. This allowed for a highly advanced audio/visual communication system where the castle could be notified if any of the nearby villages was coming under attack. The guy who lived in the castle was a count or something, and he was responsible for the protection of all 16 surrounding villages.
There were artists booths, archers, jugglers, spit-roasted honey chicken (excellent). We toured the castle of course, but I was most impressed with the view, and the defenses. We toured some more of the countryside, and then Jean-Marc and Beatrice brought me back to my hotel.
This evening of course was the world cup final between France and Italy. I watched the spectacle from the "Place de Jaude" which is the largest of the town squares here. They had a jumbotron setup, a band playing, and about 20,000 people turned out for it. Painted faces, carrying French flags, air-horns, red white and blue afro-wigs. All ages, all walks of life. On the walk to Place de Jaude, I pass 4 or 5 bars, all of which were also packed. Many of them do not normally have a TV in the bar, but big screens popped up all over town for this event.
The game was very good. An early point off a penalty kick put France ahead, then Italy tied things up at 1-1 shortly thereafter off a corner kick. The score stayed tied straight through to the end. France's captain made a really stupid foul, got caught doing it, and was kicked out of the game. In the end, the game came down to penalty kicks. France missed one of its 5, and Italy did not, so they won. I have to say I was really pulling for France mostly because I wanted to see the resulting party, but no such luck.
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