CASTLES AND MUSEUMS, DE RIGUER

July 22, 2009

We decided to do some touring of the local points of interest today, so we set off for the town of Sion. There we visited the two castles, Tourbillon and Valeres. Each castle required a steep hike.    (see more of Don's photos)

We got a good parking spot in the garage and hiked up to the first castle, Valeres. It is a typical medieval castle, with cobbled streets and big stone ramparts. We stopped at the museum there, but it didn’t open until 11am, so we visited the church and then went back down the hill and up the next hill over to visit Tourbillon. The climb was steep, long and hot, but there was quite a lovely view. I can’t imagine the lady of the castle being willing to come down to the village for any reason. The trip back up the hill was too daunting. I am sure she would have to be carried in a chaise, and those poor porters, what a job.

We hiked back into Valeres to go to the museum, which was interesting. The whole presentation was a trip through time, so the displays started with prehistoric times and continued into the Roman occupation and on through the Dark Ages and the Black Death, the middle ages, present time and a prediction about 2150. It was a nice visit

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By the time we got home it was about 2:30, so we decided to skip lunch and have an early dinner. I made a nice spinach salad, with spinach picked fresh from the garden, and hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, fried potatoes (also fresh from the garden) and salmon. It looked very pretty and it was quite yummy.

(see more of Don's photos)