Picnic area below the chateau.

­This is a special place, and well worth the 10 — 15 minute walk in from the carpark. The track down through shady woods is not difficult and the rewards are many. You are delivered into to a pretty green valley with a stream, meadows and picnic tables and on one side, the towering ruins Chateau de Commarque.

Your entry fee comes with a booklet for your self-guided tour. You start with the troglodyte caves, well-presented to give a snapshot of what life was like.

Troglodyte living area in caves at the base of the cliffs, with work benches and sleeping areas and carved into the rock.

Then you begin the climb past the remains of church and a grand house to the castle and tower. The authenticity of what is on offer is palpable, it gets through to you, giving you a real feel for the layers of history and life through the ages, and an appreciation of the painstaking restoration that is taking place here.

There are lots of steps and stairs, but you can take your time — two hours should be enough to see it all, although you could easily spend the best part of a day here.

View across the valley from an upper floor of the chateau. The wonder of this place stayed with us for days.

Take a picnic lunch with you, or buy a sandwich from the cafe at the foot of the castle (please note, though, so as to preserve the integrity of the stream, there are no toilet facilities down here, they are in the carpark at the top of the track).