Typing this in an internet cafe so no pictures at the moment which is a pity as I have a few dramatic ones to post. We were looking forward to Bastille Day in France as there are great celebrations. We aimed to be in Sedan but unfortunately all the fireworks and generql yahooing goes on on the previous evening and we were in a tiny village called Pont a Bar then. They didn't have fireworks but they did have a private party in a big house near the canal which went on until 4 am... Now much as I like Shakira I prefer my sleep at that hour.
So we arrived in Sedan about midday the next day which was just too lqte to see the big march of the pompiers etc ( firefighters). Quite why they march I have yet to find out. However we were to have plenty to do with said pompiers later in the day.
Being the national holiday the town was closed up and pretty well deserted so we decided to visit the chateau/ castle/fort which is the largest in Europe. It is absolutely enormous. Usually these forts are situated high above the towns but in Sedan the've achieved the height by actually building it. The fort rises up one street from the old town completely dominating it with its enormous stone walls.
There weren't too many visitors which was good but the place is so big that I doubt it ever feels crowded. We spent an interesting few hours looking around and a short time in the blazing sunshine feeling sorry for the horses and knights in armour providing the jousting display.
About 4pm we were just qbout qt teh end of our tour around. We were out on the high ramparts looking over the Ardennes mountains when the sky darkened and the wind begqn to get up. It became so strong that we were holding on to each other and we decided to go inside and look qt teh museum display; This is housed on a couple of floors high up in the castle. We had only been in a few minutes when there was a screaming wind noise coming from the smallish window overlooking the town. I went over to look qnd noticed birds being blown against the walls.Then the sky turned really dark and at the same time full of what seemed to be dust and black shapes which I realised were much bigger thqn birds were hurtling through the air towards us. At that point I got a bit frightened and thought I'd better get behind a wall rather than a window. Rob was looking out of another window onto the inner courtyard where a little while earlier dozens of people had been sitting on stand seating watching the jousting. I called to him to come and see what I was seeing and as he turned the whole roof blew off into the central courtyard. Hundreds of slates, planks of wood and piles of insulation competely destroyed the seating area; At the same moment the alarms went off and as did the lighting - medieval castles are gloomy places let me tell you. The rooms were filled with clouds of dust and plaster doors and wooden walls were banging and the wall tapestries were flapping. Emergency lights came on and we made our way down winding stairs and corridors to the bar where everyone was collected and where we had to remain until the Pompiers arrived and declared things safe enough to leave. Then we ran all the way back to the boat through what was now a deluge of rain hoping that it hadn't been blown off its mooring. Fortunately it hadn't and we suffered no damage, unlike the the majority of campers in the park next to the moorings, most of them leaving their broken poles and going home.
So, a tornado on Bastille Day leaving a trail of destruction looking much like the original day of 'la revolution'.
Time's up - must go............
No comments:
Post a Comment