A trip to Fougères

Posted by Rosie

On Saturday friends were travelling up from Poitiers to catch the ferry at St Malo at the end of their holiday and wanted to meet up with us somewhere on their way back.  Fougères, just over the border into Brittany is an hour and a half from us and en route for them and not somewhere we had been before.  A quick look on Google confirmed it seemed a nice place to visit and so the meet up was arranged.

Our friends were due to arrive at around 2.30 so we decided to get there earlier so we could have a look round the town before lunch with them and then a trip round the castle together.

Saturday is market day in Fougères and a very nice market it is to.  We didn't buy anything but thoroughly enjoyed perusing the wide variety of stalls and taking in the atmosphere of what was a very pretty town.

Locally made dried sausages - "saucisson".

Organic Fruit and Vegetables

After the market and a coffee we ambled our way down to the castle.  Interestingly the castle was not on the highest point as you might expect but at the base of the hill and the more modern town is high in the hill.  We wondered why but later learnt that this was because of water - a well had been dug in the centre of the castle to provide residents with water when they were under siege where-as there was no well water on the higher ground.

Our walk took us first through what is now the town gardens next to the church where there are some fabulous floral displays which you'll find on this garden post.  It is also where we found this pretty heart-shaped window:

Heart shaped window at Fougères

 

Town gardens at Fougères

After the gardens we found ourselves in the Medieval part of the town with it's narrow streets and old buildings where there were plenty of signs explaining about the buildings and what went on there:

Fougères was a major tanning town in the Middle Ages

Medieval Fougères

We had lunch with our friends at a very nice and not at all expensive restaurant just outside the entrance to the castle we then went into the castle itself. 

A nice spot for lunch

As you might expect with a couple of boys, we have visited a fair few castles in our time. How did this one rate?  Pretty darn good I would say.  It was imposing, there was plenty to see and do and we really liked it.  But that is all I am going to say and maybe one day you will visit Fougères and sometimes knowing less about a visit can make it all the more enjoyable.  We didn't know anything about the castle but we definitely felt the 20€ we spent on entry fees was well worth it.  The only thing I would point is that if you have a pushchair there are rather a lot of steps you where you will have to carry the pushchair up and down. 

Fougères Castle

Fougères may not be the closest castle to Eco-Gites of Lenault but I heartily recommend both the castle and the town itself for a day trip.  Have you been and if so what did you  think about it?