Entrevaux

Monday 21 May 2012

We began the morning with another round of class - almost finishing our discussion of Becoming Roman, just one more chapter to go.  It became clear that it wasn't just conquering when the Roman Empire expanded.  Yes there was bloodshed, but there was also adaptation, mixing of culture, acculturation - the Gauls choose what they wanted to keep beyond the basic forced acceptance.  They even went as far to embrace certain aspects of the Roman culture as their own.  This gave me something to look for as we went off exploring ancient sites.

Following class, we had a short break and then boarded the little bus that we would come to spend way too much time on over the next three weeks and headed to the train station at St-Andre-les-Alpes and caught the train to the village of Entrevaux.

Erica and Minda in front of the bus

The train was a fun adventure.  We saw some sheep along the way and I learned about automated restroom doors.  Be sure to look for the buttons to open and close, then be a little patient instead of trying to force the door open as I did.  The mountains in this area are beautiful.  It amazes me the lengths people will go to in order to live and travel through country like this.  The infrastructure of roads, rail-lines, bridges over deep revines, and tunnels through thick mountains of stone far surpasses the amount of effort I would think to put in in order to live in such a place.  What people will do to connect one desirable area with another.

Sheep in the mountain pasture viewed from the train window

We arrived at Entrevaux in early afternoon and immediately headed straight up to the Citadel.  It was an interesting process to watch several American get tokens out of the machine and go through the turnstile to access the road that lead up to the citadel.  Eventually we all made it through, but there were a couple of small boys with their father who must have had a good laugh at our expense.   

Cannon in the Museum

The first thing I did on the other side was check out the little museum.  Its largest feature was a cannon in the center, but no interpretive information to go along with it and all the signs within the room were written in French.  So needless to say, I gleaned what I could, but mostly just looked at the pictures.  Coming out of the museum I discovered that I had been left behind by my friends - as they had already started climbing the road without me.  The little boy who had been at the turnstile shouted "Allez, allez, allez" so up I went after them.

Entrevaux - City and Citadel

Path to the top

Now to give you an idea of what challenge faced us - my professor has not even been to the top of the Citadel.  If you look on the left side of the photograph above and you'll see the edge of the wall sticking out of the buildings.  Follow the zig-zag pattern to the top - that is what we had to climb.  No idea how far or high it is, but it took us at least thirty minutes to climb.  We did make it to the top and enjoyed exploring the ruins, which have been partially restored in recent years.

We explored prisons that held German POWs during WWI, murder holes above entrances, and underground tunnels that connect all the way to the top level of the citadel.  However, nothing could beat the view from the top - see for yourself.  Wouldn't you want to defend this too?  Look how far into the valley you can see on this cloudy day.  Imagine how much farther you could potentially see your enemy and get your people to safety if it was bright and clear?  Now you'd be thinking like a medieval leader!

Following exploring the citadel, we grabbed some lunch - successfully ordered hamburgers, fries, and coke all in French!  After lunch we wandered through the old part of town, explored the Cathedral which was built in the 17th Century and housed relics belonging to St. John the Baptist.  Through the Port d'Italie, which is the entrance to the city on this side of the river, I discovered a nice monument to those who were killed during the Great War.

We boarded our little bus back to Vergons and had a nice dinner at the local restaurant.  Following dinner we returned to our Gites and I taught Minda, Bryce, David, and Erica how to play Carcassonne- the board game named after a city we were to visit later in the trip.  I think they enjoyed the game - we did play three rounds before turning in for the night. :)

Minda, Bryce, David, and Erica playing Carcassonne

For more photographs of Entrevaux - go here.  Also, if you have been checking out the photographs, check back every now and again - the rest of the group is starting to add their pictures to mine!