After a full day of traveling on Wednesday, we let ourselves sleep in Thursday. After we all finally got up, we drove across the Rhone towards Saint-Péray, to visit the ruins of the Château de Crussol.

I feel like I have to remind myself that “Europe is where castles are from”. We don’t have any medieval castles in North America, outside of renaissance faires and fantasy novels. But in France, castles, and especially ruins of castles are pretty much a dime a dozen. Whether driving through the middle of nowhere or along the highway, I’m always amazed to spot a hilltop that was heavily fortified hundreds of years ago.

View of Château de Crussol in the distance

Château de Crussol, ramparts and all

Looking out the front door

Nice juxtaposition of the old and the new

Just below the Château de Crussol, we bumped into this very friendly and talkative berger d’âne (donkey shepherd)

• Pilot Mountain
• Zebra moirés
• Katie at Point Reyes
• Cheetahs are awesome
• Katie at Goat Rock