A day with friends in Corrèze, mainly to visit Tours de Merle, a castrum dating from the 12th-15th centuries.
We set out (4 of us) at around 8h30 to visit first the Moulins de Razel with its three mills dating from around 1750 with their wooden turbines mounted on vertical axles to make best use of the limited flow but which has high kinetic energy due the the large fall.
Then a trip via the barrage de Chastang on the way to a super restaurant : Le Relais de la Fontaine at Cros de Montvert for an excellent meal featuring mainly local produce - relaxed, seated outdoors.
At 15h we left for our visit to the Tours de Merle, the main reason for the trip. The Tours de Merle ('Towers of Merle') are the ruins of a castle in the commune of Saint-Geniez-ô-Merle, in the Corrèze département of France. A feudal fortress from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, classified as a historic monument since July 30, 1927.
It was fine and sunny but the best views of the site are against the light in the afternoon, it would be better to visit in the morning for wide angle overall views. We spent over two hours visiting all the parts of the site and climbed hundreds of steps - quite strenuous and definitely not for those with vertigo ! However, what a magnificent site !
I could not find a good description in English, but for those who read French this is quite interesting : Wikipedia
The day ended with a fine local beer on the quay at Argentat.
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