20th - 21st May. Visiting the fortified town of Langres.

The fortified town of Langres on its hilltop is visible from afar.

We cycled up from the port to the supermarket, halfway up the hill, then continued on foot on a pleasant path up through the trees to the citadel. The town walls are very thick.

The reservoir de la Liez, seen in the distance, is the main feeder for the canal. We were moored below it last night, so walked up to see it and found it quite full, which is good for the canal.

Shannon and I are in a mini watch tower, at a corner of the walls.

Our tower can be seen right at the far end of this wall.

This is a carriage from an ancient rack and pinion railway, which used to transport people up to Langres.

Nowadays, it is possible to take the lift up from the car park down below!

These are the Navarre and Orval towers, built in the 16th century for the defense of the west corner of the city of Langres. The Orval tower was built as an afterthought, as a mistake in the planning had made the Navarre Tower too low to be effective for defense of this corner of the town!

Inside the towers, we were treated to an impressive light display, as well as several interesting video presentations about the history of the two towers.

At one time, the Navarre tower doubled as a gunpowder store, so a roof was built, using oak beams, to protect it.

Looking back to the Navarre tower, which is one of 12 towers built along the ramparts. We have now walked right round the ramparts of this fortified town, a distance of 3.5 kilometres.

The streets of Langres climb steeply up from the gateway below us. There are 7 gates into the city.