A Night in a Castle 

The fascination of castles in Europe dating back to the Middle Ages is ongoing for me and began with growing up in the Netherlands close to a magnificent small castle called “Het Muiderslot” near the town where I lived as a child and less than ten miles from the capital, Amsterdam. Built in 1285, it is one of the best-preserved castles in Europe, situated at the point where the Vecht River flows into the former Zuiderzee, now mostly reclaimed land. There are stories about Count Floris V building the stone structure with four-foot-thick walls and a strategic defense system allowing his men to stop traffic on the river, collect tolls, and keep attackers at bay. The history of the castle is colorful with tales of kidnappings, romance, plundering, and much later even the involvement of King William I of The Netherlands in saving the structure. The castle was attacked, demolished, and rebuilt several times and today’s building has stood since the 17th century. It has been maintained in such excellent condition that numerous movies have been filmed here. To this day my fascination with castles remains acute, so I was excited to discover an old castle transformed into a hotel on our mountainous route through the Gorges de Verdun. It was located above spectacular lavender fields of Haute Provence in the middle of the nature reserve of the Verdun Regional Nature Park.  

Majestically situated on top of a large protruding rock cliff high above the small village of the same name, Chateau de Trigance is a medieval fortress and can be seen from far away on the narrow winding roads of the Gorges de Verdun. Approaching on roads in the rocky area after a long drive of hairpins through spectacular mountainous terrain we had no inkling that the castle high above in the distance was going to be our home for the night. The closer we got, the narrower the road. We were wondering if we had made a wrong turn when we dead ended in a gravel parking lot faced by one of the massive walls of the castle. A small walkway led to a wooden gangplank over the former moat deep below. We took a few rocky steps up and arrived at the edge of the battlements. An old-fashioned rot iron and glass door let us into the former armory, now a lounge, bar and restaurant with a small reception area to the side.  

We were greeted warmly by the young attractive Hortense, who manages the hotel for the owners, the family of Guillaume Thomas. Theo Barberis, her husband, is the Chef extraordinaire. He has created an impressive menu of Novelle Cuisine, which is artfully designed and presented in a romantic restaurant. The property has been functioning as a hotel on and off for almost 50 years, but since Hortense and Theo took over, and assisted by highly trained and dedicated staff, the property has become a positively memorable experience for visitors from all over the globe. Hortense guided us to our room in the tower and upon entering we were magically transported back to medieval times.  

The four-poster bed framed by heavy brocade draperies had the command position in the circular room. The long dark oak table and four chairs would have been perfect for a medieval dinner. Two windows on either side of the room not only offered spectacular views over the valley of the national park below us but also accentuated the massive stone walls constructed to build this fortress. In fact, the walls were so thick we had no Wi-Fi reception despite a special modem in our room. We decided to walk around the rest of the battlements and make our way down to the small village of Trigance before dinner. We were delighted to find “Le Piccolo,” that seemed to be the only bar in town, to spend time with a few locals drinking French Ricard, a strong yellowish licorice beverage that turns cloudy white when mixed with ice and water. Towards the end of the afternoon, we left them at their card game and made our way back up to our castle. On the ground floor of the spectacularly renovated old armory we enjoyed a Kir, a typical French aperitif made of a combination of a local dry white wine and Crème de Cassis. Dinner upstairs was artfully presented in a romantic candle-lit dining room. It was the grand finale of the evening before we returned to our tower for a night with dreams of Knights on magnificent horses battling in the valley below.  

For those interested in more than the wide variety of hiking and biking trails easily accessible from our castle, there is a choice of other sports available in and around the Gorges de Verdun. The highest bungee Jumping facility in France is here at almost 600 feet from the l’Art Ruby Bridge. Paragliding, hang-gliding, canyoning and climbing at the 5,600-foot-high Mount Lachens provides even more excitement. 

In the morning, our departure was delayed by fog so dense that there was zero visibility from our tower windows. When it finally had cleared enough for us to depart, Hortense escorted us to our rental car, posed for a photo, and expressed the hope we would return soon.  

We discovered when we descended that the clouds had only been hiding our rock pinnacle because it was all clear in the valley below. I wish Theo and Hortense continuous success. They assuredly have a bright future in the hospitality world.