Fougeres

The chateau at Fougeres taken from the bell tower of the church.

The bell tower of the church was what caught our eye.

We came to Fougeres, which is in Brittany, to see the chateau, but arrived just as they were closing for lunch. We walked to a park to take in the view, and realized there was a church we could visit. Following quite a hike up cobbled streets, we found the St Leonard's church.  Once inside, we were told by a couple who were leaving, not to miss going up to the bell tower, as they pointed to a small area at the back of the chapel.

Only 19 people are allowed in the bell tower at a time.

There were two sections of spiral staircases after the wooden one.

 Once through the door, we encountered several staircases; first rather easy climbing wooden ones, followed by twisting spiral ones, going up, up, up.  The sides of the tower held figures of saints watching us going up, up, up.  How many hundreds of people have used these stairs?

A saint watching us climb a wooden staircase.

Ding, dong bell.

 The top of the bell tower had a walkway around it, with magnificent views over the country side. We took several pictures of the chateau, which even though at a distance, still looked huge.

The chateau from the ramparts.

The local mowing service working on the chateau grounds.

Seeing this place from the top of the church, put into our minds how huge it really is.  We could see the ramparts that continued on into the town, with parts missing, and sections now incorporated into buildings.  For starting out in the eleventh century as a wooden fort, it is now one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.

The central courtyard from one of the towers.

Bill looking through the base of a watch tower.