Towers to visit France

The dungeon, 28 metres high, is the last and smallest of the seven towers of the old feudal castle built by Richard Lion, the future King of England. At the top of the summit, you can find and see the chimneys of La Manu in Chatellerault and those of the Centrale, a bird's flight, 46 kilometres away! Within the castle walls, the th century Notre-Dame-des-Vergers chapel of the th century, a transitional ogival style with the half-slender shape, the emerging arches with all the details of Romanesque ornamentation. In the past, superb murals from the th to the th century represented the bucolic work of the twelve months of the year.

Located in 1830 in the castle park, at the location of a fortified tower of the citadel that covered the hill until 1706, she welcomed Hector Berlioz in 1831 and 1844. Now it houses the naval museum where you can admire collections of arms, mock-ups, and boat engravings, navigational instruments, objects illustrating the maritime history of Nice as well as the canons of Portuguese origin. Once you have climbed the stairs of the "Lesage" staircase, you will have an exceptional panorama of Nice and its bay.

The tower of Greater Wintersberg, which rises to over 580 metres above sea level, was erected in 1890. It is the highest point in the Northern Vosges. At the top of this 25-metre high tower, a remarkable panoramic view of the whole area awaits you. On a clear day, you can see the Alsace plain and the blue line of the Black Forest. By road, access is via the Liese Pass. Close to this pass you can see the Liese Rock, a sandstone monolith with a bas-relief probably dating back to Gallo-Roman times. Vandalized in 1944, it was restored in 1970. This rock was probably intended for the cult of fertility.

At the intersection of the rue de la basse and the dolmen street, the church of Alluyes appears from the entrance to the commune, opposite the town hall and the local school. Then following the tree-lined road, the landscape changes a little: behind the cover of the trees pushing on the edge of the Loir which winds here, the dungeon of the former castle of the municipality stands apart. A property of a foundation that also operates the special educational institution of Alluyes, the dungeon overlooks the small village with its coffee and green spaces.

The high square tower is visible from far when one passes from Essonne to the Eure and Loir. In fact, it is the steeple of the church of Garancières-en-Beauce, which dates from the th century which rises above the village and is classified in historical monuments. This tower stands on the church of Saint Etienne, founded in the xiiith century, next to an esplanade where you can also see the monument to the communal dead. A few metres from the building, a pond marks the entrance of the village, next to a superb farm.

Dominating the Combraille tower, the tower of Sermur, probably high in the 721 th century, was one of the elements of the castle that stood at metres above sea level. In 1357, when the English attacked - the complex was in a strategic location since Sermur was then one of the fiefdoms of the Counts of Auvergne - the whole was partially destroyed, between 1390 and 1410. Today it remains only the remains of this square tower of seven metres side.

A guide proposes to discover the tower of Saint-Étienne Castle on Wednesdays of July and August. Overlooking the city, the square tower of the castle offers a pleasant panorama of Aurillac and its surroundings. Aurillac is also one of the three highest prefectures in France! The castle has successively housed abbots, prefects and teachers before becoming the Museum des Volcans in the late 1990 s. It now contains explanations and illustrations about the functioning of the earth and the formation of the auvergnat landscape.

Tariff: € 4,50 (€ 2,50 for children aged 6 to 18).

Duration: 1 h.

Difficulty: easy.

On reservation only. Departure subject to a minimum of 8 persons registered.

Of the 7 access gates that once encircled Villeneuve-sur-Lot, only 2 remain today: the Porte de Paris and the Porte de Pujols, built in the ^14th century. The others were destroyed in the ^17th century, under Mazarin during the Fronde. The height of these square towers and the presence of machicolations testify to their defensive role. Although their shapes are very similar, you can have fun looking for the small differences between the two listed buildings.