Chateau Laroche

Today was fantastic. The sun behaved and had the modesty to hide itself behind a few thin clouds for the FOTF’s (the Fellowship of the Freaks) trip to Chateau Laroche, also known as Loveland Castle. This is good for vampires like me to turn cherry-red at the slightest hint of sunshine. Speaking of vampires, I got yet another vampire comment today thanks to my ashy skin. It was kinda funny. But, yes, our day! We arrived about the time the castle opened and spent an hour or so climbing up and down narrow spiral staircases, posing by suits of armor and oogling the impressive away of weapons the castle boasts. What’s great about the castle, however, is that there’s even more out back. Once you leave the confines of stone walls and weaponry, you can explore the beautiful grounds that rise in terraces behind the main attraction. They were created with soil moved while making the castle itself. Several new spots had been added since I last went, and we branched off probably a little deeper than we were supposed to into the woods. One of our new friends got little green bramble-burs all over her clothes, and she hadn’t succeeded in removing even half of them when we parted ways. Lunch was held on the watch tower, which overlooks a charming rock garden that is guarded by a stone dragon. No joke. There’s a sign warning people to stay out of that little plot, and there are bones scattered around the dragon’s head to prove the keepers’ point. Then we had a nice little chat with one of the knights who run the establishment and called it a day. This, I must tell you, is the same knight who got into a duel with my friend Jules (who fences). If I remember correctly, Jules won. I have the first segment of this battle on video, and I stuck it on Youtube, so if you’re bored search ‘Jules vs knight’ and you should be able to find it pretty fast.

If you’ve never been to this awesome place, you should. Admittance is cheap (3 bucks), and it’s well worth the trip, especially on festival days, which I have been told are now being held every third Saturday. I would happily volunteer to go with anyone interested, but I’m afraid that will have to wait until next summer, because I’m heading off soon to a place with older castles.