Mornas

Last night we decided on a very short day today as the heat has been wearing us out. I wanted a place near Mornas but there was nothing available on booking.com so I gave it another go this morning. Voila ! We were in luck ( NB my wife is just reading yesterday’s blog and she told me to assure you that we were stopping in the SHADE more often, not a shed )

It was cool with the windows opened wide onto the courtyard. Just finishing a basic breakfast of muesli fruit and yoghurt looking over the old town as the sun comes up

The Route is now on the Ile-De-Saint-Étienne -De-Dion,formed by the Rhone splitting at Donzère

The soil looks very rich and the island is mostly crops of Lavender and sunflower or apple and pear orchards.

The fruit pickers were out in force with 3 machines working in this orchard alone. We were fascinated to see how effortless it was for them, standing on a moving platform, the trees espaliered for this new system. *Christine and I used to pick pears when ladders were the only way to reach up high*

And then we got a lesson on pruning Lavender. Rotary slasher and a dust mask

The entire island is a shingle bank with centuries of topsoil deposited on it. All this dredge has to do is sit in a man made lake and dig it up. The metal is fed onto a conveyor belt about a kilometre long to the crushing plant

Mondragon. Just another 6kms to Mornas. I’m not sure how it got it’s name but there’s dragon themes everywhere ( *I know someone’s going to tell me).*

What a wonderful mural ! And that sculptured hand. Beautifully made with water running over it

Hôtel Manoir. Mornas. It’s an old manor house with bike parking in the stables and a large courtyard

The main reason we wanted to come here was the ‘Fortress Mornas’ sitting on top of that cliff behind the hotel. The receptionist took our bags inside, parked our bikes, then suggested we visit it straight away ( 11.30 ) before it got too hot.

We climbed up through the old village. *That’s the well*

And kept climbing *.”so this is a rest day*,!”

137metres to the fortress then more to get to the watchtower.

But oh so worth it. We have passed so many forts along the valleys but this is certainly the most impressive

That’s our hotel behind the church steeple

If you need a nervous pee, be aware there’s no door on the toilet

But if you need somewhere to leave your wife there is the waiting room !

The fortress was very important during the 100 year wars but was last used in the 16th century during the war of religions. It was stormed by Protestant soldiers who then threw the defenders off the cliff !

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Published by Wallis Don