Then we made for the hotel, and after luncheon, following
madame's advice, took a drive to the ruined castle of Polignac,
which lies three miles north-west of the town.
As we have said, it was late in the year for Le Puy.
Autumn in this district was too far advanced ; the cold winds
swept across the great plains and over the hills ; vegetation
languished and died. Yet the drive was very lovely. The
road was often rugged and uneven ; now we toiled upwards
round a volcanic hill, now descended into the valley with its
rivers, and pastures in which the cows browsed leisurely.
The ruined Chateau of Polignac, perched on its gigantic
rock, is a conspicuous object in the vast plain. Our conveyance



150



IN THE VALLEY OF THE RHONE.
toiled up through the village as far as the old Eomanesque
church, which goes back to the eleventh ceutury, from which




point we had to wind round the rock on foot to the entrance of
the castle. Walls of immense thickness still surround it ; some



CHA TEA U DE POLIGNA C. 151

of them double and treble walls, here and there flanked by a
tower, the square donjon conspicuous above all.
A portion of the building goes back to the eleventh century,
and the whole might still be standing but for the destructive
days of the Eevolution. The castle was torn down, the lands
were sold, and the de Polignacs found themselves shorn of their
stronghold. But the day came when they were able to re-
purchase the ruin, though they could never again inhabit their
despoiled inheritance.
