St Laurent Les Bains

is a village about fifteen miles away where the water still comes out of the fountain in the village square at 37 degrees centigrade. Sadly as a consequence they have built an absolute carbuncle of a spa in the middle of the village and so it is no longer the pretty hill town it should be. That said Tricia is talking of taking the waters there at some stage this year....
However the hills overlooking the village are steep enough to defy French planners and so this 12th century castle remains in splendid isolation overlooking and lording over the Borne valley. There is a great path - almost horizontal after an initial uphill burst - that weaves around the hill to the tower before descending steeply back to the village.