Staying in a castle - Brametourte

Our castle stay - Brametourte Castle

This was a night we had all been waiting for - a stay in a real castle! 

We had the directions at the ready, had our cheese board and wine ready and we were on our way! 

Quite easily found the driveway - however the driveway we found was actually the un-used one and not the main entrance - our new rental car with only 500kms on the clock was doing some rough driving - still, after coming across the gardener Grant we knew we were in the right place and he gave us some advice about how to make it up the rest of the drive! Phew!

Anyway, we were here and what a place. Thank you to my friend Maureen for the recommendation - we, like you, loved it!

Sitting out in the back garden area - beautiful

We had a very relaxed afternoon/evening at the castle just enjoying the location - the view and the ambiance - it was just what we needed along with a couple of bottle of wine! 

The castle and one of the towers.............the troubadour suite - where the lady in the white dress appears from time to time if you believe the story -

The entrance way into the cobbled courtyard before entering the castle proper -

The courtyard and entrance door proper:-

Brameforte Castle dates back to the 11^th century - 1000 years old - how crazy is that!

Alison and Paul  brought the run down and almost derelict castle 10 years ago and have been renovating it since - and they are doing an amazing job keeping it authentic and Alison loves to share the history and experiences of the castle.  They think that in a few years the renovations will be complete - they are now onto the last of their suites and towers and then onto the tunnel:- 

Château de Brametourte, surveys a stunning panorama across 20 hectares of park land, woods & sun-flowered fields, towards the Pyrenean peaks.

The tranquil beauty of this ancient home of Lautrec’s Viscounts, belies its turbulent past.

The castle was immersed in the medieval religious fervour of Cathars, Knights of the Templar & the Wars of Religion. Sieged during the 16th century, it fell into disrepair and lay undiscovered – frozen in time - until Alison and Paul found it! 

Mum exploring and the boys playing on the grass............so much to explore

When it was almost bedtime, Alison took us with her torch and showed us around the castle - down into the cellar where there is apparently a blocked up tunnel that goes through the valley which used to be used to transport Jewish children during the war over to the next valley and through to Switzerland.

We also went up to the Troubadour Suite which is where the Legend of Brametourte begins.  A young girl was kept locked in the tower to preserve her purity while awaiting her future husband (the Baron of Toulouse) who never arrived and she reportedly jumped from the window to her death after years of waiting, sitting at the window crying and she reportedly still visits this room - and her scratch marks can still be seen in the plaster………………while we were in here, one of the workers had hid in the closet to give the boys a bit of a fright - was very funny. 

We then explored another wing which they are currently renovating and where they have found other midieval markings and signs of events from long ago which Alison is very excited about.

Down into the tunnel which is still to be opened up................

Lachlan at the French doors (haha funny - French doors in France - I wonder if they are just called "doors") - anyway this is his room that he was sharing with mum - called the Chamber and one of the oldest rooms in the house - the walls are super thick..................

No need to worry about wallpaper in these rooms - just traditional and renovated keeping to the era of the house - very cool.

The balcony above is new and is going to be the suite called the "angel suite" - still to be completed! We will stay in this room next time. This outside area is where we spent much of our time - just gorgeous

The kids (and adults) thought this full body suite of armour was pretty cool -

Dinner on the terrace - perfect!

The photo is taken at about 10pm in the evening - it is still light and we are listening to the frogs ...... Champers the castle puppy is very cute and was trying to be brave barking at the frogs!

This is our suite - called the Gothic Suite - very cool 4-poster-bed -

Our suite bathroom - two basins, a bath and shower - way cool!

Our salon next to our room - given the beautiful weather however no time was spent in here -

Yup - you were thinking - oh romantic - not so much now!!!

Our beautiful breakfast -

Connor chilling out by the amazing fireplace - it is hute and used to be the kitchen fire also historically - very cool

The entrance design is from medieval times -

All too soon it was time for us to leave the castle - this place really was amazing and the hosts so gracious! This is a place I would love to come back to for a relaxed stay enjoying the magic of the castle and of the area.

Lautrec - the closest wee village near our accommodation!

The drive to Lautrec was absolutely stunning - amazing scenery here in France -

The views spectatular

And the little villages super cute:-

This is Lautrec as we were driving in to get supplies for our evening at the castle.  After a big lunch in Carcassonne we were just wanting things for a cheeseboard and of course some wine!


A few pics of our wandering around Lautrec 
My obsession with lights continues..........................

Carcassonne = an ancient fortified city!

Today it was time to leave Montpellier and go and pick up our rental car to go exploring - apparently an upgrade was needed in regard to the car for five of us to travel comfortably - and to get GPS! We got a great car for travelling our planned 1000km trip! 

First stop - Carcassonne! Yay - can't wait....................

Carcassonne is an amazing fortified town about 90 minutes from Montpellier in the Region of Languedoc-Roussillon.  It is stunning and impressive from the outside and even more so once inside.  

There are amazing castles everywhere in France once you get out into the villages and small towns - some amazingly restored and other left almost derelict! This is one of the amazing ones................

Carcassonne is a medieval citadel famous for its 53 watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first walls of the upper town, Le Cité, were built in Gallo-Roman times; major additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. The castle inside is a 12th-century fortress within Carcassonne’s fortified walls and you can enter and see amazing archaeological exhibits, watch a movie about the history of the town and a walk around the inner and outer ramparts.  We did all of this and enjoyed every minute - so much to explore, imagine and experience! Plus - there were shops! 

Carcassonne is tourist heaven, however travelling at this time of year means it is not yet overrun which is fantastic, however we did come across a few school groups.  We got the tip from the lady at the information centre to have lunch in a side street and not the main square! This was great advice and our lunch was superb.  The weather for our travels thus far has been amazing - and it continues today! Yah! 

As per usual in these parts there was a great church and some amazingly anxiety stained glass windows - the colours really are spectacular!

Wow, this place was certainly worth a good look around and well worth the trip.  Now we head toward our accommodation - a castle and we can't wait!

Montpellier, at the Aquarium and our last evening

A great day in Montpellier - we had a few hours just exploring Montpellier and some of the beautiful churches and streets.........it really is a gorgeous old city 

Exploring around the streets of Marseille and the beautiful St Roch Church -

Today the boys and I decided we would head to the Montpellier Aquarium and check out the marine life in the Mediterranean area.  Mum decided she would have a chill out day and Karl was due home mid-afternoon.  We headed off early catching the tram and easily found our way to the aquarium.

Coming up close to check out Loki

This shark was huge..................

Cute little Nemo's

This fish was wierd - it lives in this hole and pops up and down

The touch tank - water was freezing! 

Scary sharks 

We also really liked the interactive ship experience that they had which simulated being on a big ship during a storm - was very cool.

At the aquarium we met an English woman, Tracy, who is currently based in Marseille and so on our 2^nd trip around the aquarium the boys played “tour/information guide” - I think they were just really excited to have someone else English speaking to converse with!

We then found an American burger joint for lunch where they had the French tennis open on TV - perfect! We had a great lunch and then headed back to our apartment.

We chilled out for a bit and then went to “check the drains” or have a beer as most people would say.  Mum and I went shopping first and we met the boys at the bar.  Shopping was fun, we got a little lost in the winding streets but eventually found our way to the main square and the boys.  We had a few beers and then a great dinner where mum had her first “real steak” in France.  Here you can often get “steak hache” which is minced up beef of which she is not a fan!   Anyway - great dinner, great company and a great last night for us in Montpellier.

Me and Con taking selfies................ Connor gets the camera and goes wild taking a lot of blurry shots! 

Karl found his beer! 

And I found some wine - rose is great over here!

Family shot! 

Loks with his moules frites .......yumo! 

Mum happy with her "real steak"

Tomorrow we head to Carcassonne and our first ever stay in a castle - wahoo.