Bonaguil and the Lot Valley: France's Last Great Fortress, Gavaudun and Puy-l'Évêque

Required Activities

• At the Chateau de Bonaguil, stand at the sharp north point of the 13th-century keep, its masonry over three metres thick and set at 65 degrees to face the ridge an attack would come from, then count gun ports along the 350m outer wall Berenger de Roquefeuil threw round it, one of the 104 he had cut for the guns

• Climb to the 13th-century keep of Gavaudun on its rock pinnacle above the Lede, then walk down the valley to the ruined priory of Saint-Sardos de Laurenque with its dovecote and ground-floor bread oven

• Walk the terraced gardens of the Château de Fumel, now the town hall, for the view over the Lot

• Walk the lanes of Puy-l'Évêque, the medieval town on its promontory above the Lot and the Cahors vineyards

• Cross the barbican bridge at Bonaguil and notice that it turns ninety degrees halfway, built with that kink so no battering ram could be run at the gate; then find the well sunk 48 m down a natural fissure in the courtyard, and the gun casemate at the bottom of the great ditch, reached only through a cave that runs right under the castle