Well so far its been a hell of a couple of weeks, Here in my small corner of the world we've had Rain, Rain, and Yes more of that damn RAIN.
Think someone up there decided I Needed a continuous shower, or maybe they just wanted to encourage me to stay indoors and get some work done.
But last weekend...
The sun came out, I shit thee not! Wall to wall sunshine and a crisp clear day. Now that's what I'm talking about. Maybe mother nature Has decided our species doesn't deserve to be drowned.
So what to do with the incredibly excited little man who woke up, saw the lack of rain and proudly proclaimed-
Daddy can we go on an adventure?
Well one quick google search away , and looking for something nearby (As the wife hasn't been in the mood for long distance drives)
Bang got a hit on something interesting.
Missus - Is it far
Me - 35 Minutes
Missus - -Nods-
Me:
Ok buddy What about A Windmill and a Small castle Ruin?
Him:
-Spins in circles breakdancing -
Which as every Father knows is the childish equivalent to
FUCK YEAH LETS GOOOO!
The town of Durban!
In the Gers not Africa
When you get there its pretty obvious this little town is well tended.
The windmill itself is pretty damn impressive, and it looks so well maintained its hard to believe it could be very old.
Well turns out it was rebuilt in 2018 where the windmill stood a long way back.
And over there...
Well that must be the ruins of the castle. Being sandwiched between 2 pretty interesting looking places it was a toss up.
Which one should we explore first, So many choices.
With perfect 6 year old logic the Lad decided it was obvious that the one closest to our current parking spot has to win. So to the Windmill we go.
That cross marks the old location of the village crossroads which was removed when they rebuilt the old mill. Its actually really cool to see a fully functional Mill even if it happens to be in the off position.
Would be cool to see it spinning...
But even standing still its pretty damn cool.
And to be honest with the sun a shining I could care less.
Apparently they bake bread with flour milled on site a few times a year. So you can watch the thing spin and eat some old fresh baked bread.
Just behind it is a communal herb garden, Which is actually a really nice touch. Everything is well maintained and the whole village is responsible to make sure it stays that way.
Being a Sunday everything was closed up anyway so after walking around for a bit and having a little picnic while looking over the valley we decided to head off and look for the castle.
Well whatever is left of it anyway.
The town itself is really a fine example of old fashioned Fabricobble. Like that wall there, I bet that was built using parts of the Castle ruin and Recycled Pieces of old architecture .
And of course the church is interesting but its obviously been added to over the years and its locked up tighter than a ducks ass. So no getting inside for a better look. Guess God takes Sunday off too here.
Bingo!
Behind the church is a series of these little signs, Guess the people got fed up of being asked for directions, as they are all very obviously home made.
Got to love a well marked trail.
Only a few minutes up the road you get to these nice slippery Oak sleeper steps. Its not exactly the harshest terrain we have faced on one of our little adventures, but watching the wife try not to go ass over tits was pretty funny.
Health and safety should really clean those things up.
Then at the top...
TADAA
Guess it really is a small ruin...
But the views alone make it well worth while.
You can see the Mill and the whole Valley D'Astarac spread out below.
The Ruins, well Ruin, Maybe its just an old wall.
Less impressive than some but still worth a look, after all its not always about the destination, Its more about the journey.
It has arrow slits for a father and his son to pretend they're shooting arrows at mythical creatures.
Steep slopes for a boy to climb and try to run up.
And one big sticky up bit that you can imagine might have been a tower at one point. All in all a successful day out. Not a lot of Hiking to get there and after all, On the way out and just across the road we saw a sign that led us to discover... DINOSAURS, RAWR.
But that's a story for another time.
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Now a Brief History on
The Castelnau de Durban!
One of four Forified sites in the Astarac Valley The Fortress at Durban was built in the 12th century.
Due to its location in the Middle ages it was strategically important as a Military center and a good location for the various counts and Knights to fight over.
It was pledged to one of the many Raymond's de Toulouse and eventually fell into ruin as more tactical sites were constructed over the years and the South was consolidated into France.
Still for its size a damn cool place.
All Photos taken on my Chineseum Phone, A Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite