Cordes-sur-Ciel - Another Plus Beau Village - May 24, 2024

 We struck out yesterday with our Plus Beau Village (Most Beautiful Village) of Saint-Lizier. But we don't give up easily. Today we traveled 2  hours north to the village of Cordes-Sur-Ciel. We had visited here in 2015 with my sister, Nancy, so we're hoping it will live up to our memories. Picnic lunch packed into the car, we set out on today's adventure. 

Cordes (from an old word meaning rocky heights) was renamed in 1993 as Cordes-sur-Ciel - Cordes in the sky. Cordes is perched on a rocky hilltop the overlooks the valleys that surround it. At times, when the clouds lay low in the valleys, the old village of Cordes seems to sit poetically above the clouds. 

sign at entrance to Cordes-sur-Ciel, upside down as a protest from agricultural workers about government farm policies. Many sympathize and so towns leave the signs upside down.

The drive keeps Cordes from view until entering the lower city, when it finally comes into view on its perch above the clouds.

Our first task was to find parking as close to the upper village as possible as steep hills are difficult for my scooter. Cordes-sur-Ciel is circled by a road that follows the old ramparts. Using that, we found a parking space near the gardens. Dave helped save my scooter battery by pushing me up the ramparts road to the west entrance to the upper village. At least this road is paved.

Luckily the rampart road is paved, but it s still a steep uphill climb.

Built from 1222-1229, Cordes is considered the first bastide town in southern France. These planned towns were meant to replace towns lost in the Albigensian Crusade and provide new homes and a measure of security for those displaced by the crusade to eliminate Catharism from the south of France. They were frequently placed in defensible locations, surrounded by walls. These villages were then able to market their agricultural and craft products through trade with other towns as well as local markets. 

Map of Cordes-sur-Ciel.The red loop around the upper city is the road that follows the former defensive walls.

We entered by the Ormeaux Gate. As this is a medieval bastide town, the roads are authentically cobblestone, which is likely to rattle my teeth out by the end of the day. 

the Ormeaux gate - we're not done climbing

Since the market square is the highest point in this upper village, there was more uphill to go. It was surprisingly quiet in the streets. Hardly any tourists but us. We soaked in this rare privilege of having the village to ourselves, knowing it wouldn't last.

On the way to the center of town

We stopped at the church and tourist office. Both were closed for lunch from noon till 2 o'clock. So we split up and wandered around the streets a bit, meeting back at the market. 

Looking up at the church's bell tower

courtyard of  the tourist office - located in a medieval house

Medieval houses look huge from the outside, but usually have a good-sized courtyard in the center

As is typical of bastides, there is a central covered market with arcaded houses surrounding it on the main square of the village. 

the covered market

the arcaded buildings have all disappeared except this little stretch that is now a restaurant

Dave and Judy explored outside the walls. Notice that everything goes down steeply once you leave the village's highest point at the market.

They found a quiet little park part way down on the outside of town.

And Judy did a little shopping in one of the many tourist stores and artisan workshops in the village.

Back at the market, I had seen a sign for a panoramic view, but there were steps. Once Dave and Judy came back, Judy checked out the view and found a couple of alleys that led me to the square without climbing stairs. And that's when we discovered something my grandchildren would swoon over - an art installation of a unicorn and a mermaid. I was a bit sad that they were not here to see it with me. We would all have been dancing for joy.

Judy and the unicorn with mermaid. It's a big unicorn!

By the way, this is the view from that terrace:

That's a rooftop just below us.

Next best thing, we ate lunch on a bench near the unicorn and mermaid. 

Our lunch view from the terrace, looking back at the church and market (on left)

By now, the tourist office was open and a very helpful woman showed us how to get around with the least number of hills to conquer. But did we listen? Turns out, not so well. More later.

Using the map and the guidebook from the tourist office, we went back to some of the buildings we had already looked at. This time with new eyes as the guidebook filled in the stories of each building.

The church....

These are all reliquaries for various saints that are held now in the church's treasury.

the altar

....carvings on one of the medieval houses have a secret story to tell

When it was time to leave, we decided to go out the east end of town, opposite from where we started. Dave would then pick me up in the car at the corner of the street in the lower village. Seemed like a good idea. Well, it sort of was...

a beautiful corner along a rather steep street

The streets were very picturesque. Town gates to go through. But....

Going down the east end was much steeper than going up the west side. And in spite of having really good brakes, my scooter at one point was literally sliding down the street (cobblestone, mind you) with no way of stopping. We made our way slowly, stopping frequently to look around as well as to provide a little break from worrying about whether I could make it down or not. And what would we do if I couldn't? On the final downhill, a Michigan graduate (other than speaking English, that's all we learned about him) noticed our problem and helped Dave hold back my chariot as we descended. Thanks to him, I lived to write this blog post. 

steep....

steeper....

moving slowly, braking often

taking a break before heading down the next section

Cordes-sur-Ciel certainly exceeded our expectations for visiting a Plus Beau Village. Good signage, good tourist information (although I recommend getting to the tourist office before noon, not at 12:15), shops, museums, restaurants, and other tourist amenities blend quietly into their medieval settings. This is a village that embraces its status as a Plus Beau Village, and for that we are happy - and a little more informed about the history and culture of southern France.