Interior visit of the Castle part 1
Great Dungeon Hall
It was impossible to get into the dungeon on the courtyard level. The only opening is on the first floor and was only accessible by a ladder, as frequently in medieval fortresses.
The base of this door is decorated with oak leaves, acorns and a long mustached figure.
This opening was once joined to another one, situated on the same level, in the central staircase tower, by a wooden gallery.
The turret with sides that spring above the gate of thekeep contains the staircase thanks to which one reaches on the dungeon. The wooden floors which separated the stages were unfortunately taken away just after the castle was sold as national property and this creates the impression of a huge empty shell which makes it possible to reconstitute the topography of the places. Each stage was composed of a big square room, a smaller one and a toilet made in the hollowed out thick wall. We can now admire the pure lines of the strangely suspended stone chimneys
Poursuivant l'ascension de l'escalier en spirale on arrive au chemin de ronde.
On the tops of the spiral staircase is the covered way. Everything here is surprising and marvelous : the large stone paving with the gaping holes of the machicolations, the battlements from where we have a beautiful view of the courtyard. We can notice the sense of humour, the sculptors allowed themselves in a place where ladies would rarely venture... However, in these times when roughness mixed with poetry, would it really have offended them? Four of the consoles supporting the frame work are decorated with figures represented in different occupations : two musicians, one bagpiper, one rebec player and a man and a woman christened by popular mischief "le chieur" and "la pisseuse".
