Cordes sur Ciel

Cordes-sur-Ciel, perched on top of a hill.

Built on the top of a hill as a bastide town, Cordes sur Ciel was one of the first shopping centers.  The lord who controlled the area built the fortified town, charged folks to come and sell their wares, then protected anyone who lived nearby. 

The market place now has outdoor seating for the restaurants that surround it.

It's easy to imagine stalls with merchants selling their goods.

Today it is much quieter, but there are still folks selling their wares.  Now it's art glass, wood carvings, paintings, knives, antiques, and several shops full of local foods and wines.

The walkway to our hotel.

Entrance courtyard for Hotel de la Cite.

Our room with beamed ceiling and 8 foot windows that opened out onto the valley.

Our hotel is a half timbered building.  We've stayed here before, but they've done some upgrading of the bathrooms, which was needed.  Breakfast is an additional  12,50 euros each, so we pass and buy a couple of pan au chocolats and make coffee in our room.  The view is better, too.

View from our windows.

Sunset.

The last time we were here, our house was under water in New Orleans.  This little village felt like a safe haven.  The first night, we went for dinner at another hotel.  Just before we were finished, a neighboring table had their ice bucket knocked over, spilling water and ice under our table and blocking our exit.  We waited a bit for someone to come, but no one did, so we just waded through the water.  Another diner, English, said something about us wading, our response, "No big deal, we've from New Orleans, we're used to it."  And we laughed.  Like the old saying goes, 'If you don't laugh.........you'll kill someone.'