Provenchere

After Mom and Dad's trip to Milos we packed our bags and headed for France. We flew into Zurich, Switzerland rented a car and drove through the French countryside. We stopped for the night in a small village on the bank of the Doubs river where we enjoyed a delicious meal of local foods and wine.

On the second day of our vacation we decided to return to our Provencher roots and visit the village of Provenchere. Dad filled us in on the family heritage and explained that our formal last name is "Provenchere de la Rosieres de la Belleville". Provenchere, Rosieres and Belleville were the neighboring villages to the original Chateau de Provenchere that was destroyed during the middle ages.

Town signs showed us the way to Provenchere.

After driving through the town Dad lead us over a barbed wire fence, through a cow pasture and through the woods to the original ramparts of the Chateau. The picture above shows the view through the valley from the ramparts.

Two Provencher boys standing on the ramparts.

Brave Meredith peeks over the edge of the ramparts to the stream below.

From across the valley you can see the remains of the ramparts.

While investigating the surrounding area we were chased by a herd of cows who are apparently very protective of the Chateau.

A couple of miles away from Provenchere stands Chateau de Belvoir which is where the Duke lived during the middle ages. When the Chateau de Provenchere was destroyed the family fled to Belvoir.