After visiting the Abbaye ruins in Longpont France we made our way home with a brief stop over down the road in the village of Vez. Like Longpont, Vez is another tiny town with a population of only about 277 people.
For such a small community, it has another interesting and somewhat unexpected feature, a large 27 meter tall Donjon that dates back to the 14th century. I don't know much else about it to be honest. It wasn't open when we were there and it was completely surrounded by a stone wall and metal gate.
We wandered around the perimeter a bit and my wife happened to find we a small wooden gate that was ajar. It lead into a small seating area that happened to be connected to the grounds of the Keep.
We walked in without disturbing the gate further, but only a few paces into the outer grounds to take a few photos of the Donjon in the distance. I got a bit anxious about breaking the rules and entering an area that I'm quite sure we weren't supposed to. Shortly afterwards though, I was kicking myself for not getting closer to the Donjons and exploring the grounds further.
I hate breaking rules but in hindsight I doubt anyone would have noticed or really cared. They certainly wouldn't have yelled at us or anything. Still, I prefer to be respectful of rules and private property and I don't like to be perceived as an ignorant tourist.
Unfortunately, good deeds come at a detriment to my blog.
Something I noticed immediately upon entering the grounds were these strange little tree houses that were built way up high in the trees.
I don't know if they were ancient lookout posts or defensive platforms for archers or if they were built in more modern times for some other purpose. They looked to be old and falling apart though.
Strange. I don't know how anyone would climb up there either.
After high tailing it back out the gate, and by that I mean walking casually, we took a stroll down a hill to see if we could get a glimpse of the Donjon from another vantage point. In doing so we happened upon two large cows that were sunning themselves in an open field.
They paid very little attention to my wife trying to have a conversation with them and just sort of stared outwards with a dazy, tired and placid look of content on their faces.
At the bottom of the hill I found an alright view of the keep. It was the best view I could find of it outside the walls.
As you can see it's sitting on top of a small hill overlooking the fields and forest below. I'm sure it was a good defensive position in times of war.
The last photo is just a field that we walked by. It might be hay, I'm not sure. I just liked the cloud placement and also wanted to take a photo to remember what a winter in France looks like. The green grass, flowering daffodils and warmth and sunshine in February almost tricks you into thinking that its actually spring. Sometimes I have to remind myself that technically this is still winter. But anyway, that's all I have to say.
