Our river cruise ship docked in the town of Les Andelys and we were given the opportunity to visit…read morethe remains of Château Gaillard. This was an impressive medieval castle built by the English, led by Richard the Lionheart, in 1198 and overtaken by the French in a siege in 1204. The 30 minute hike up the hill to the strategic as well as scenic overlook was a great way to get some countryside fresh air as well as your fitness steps for the day. The state of the art castle was built in only 2 years. There's a lot of medieval history to be taken in here, and we were nicely treated to a 45 minute video documentary on the place before our arrival and that certainly enhanced the visit.

This little town was a stop on our river cruise. It was an overcast day, and my daughter and I had…read moreenough of looking at old ruins so we headed into town to go shopping, while my fiancé and son chose to go explore the ruin. There is a very scenic riverwalk along the one side of the town, which we strolled down at the start of our shopping adventure. We did experience a quick downpour, so we ran into the town church to get out of the rain. It's a beautiful, beautiful, quaint little church, with nice stained glass windows. Would highly recommend a peek inside if you're at that end of the town. The town itself is very small, but it had several very unique antique shops, and various boutiques where I picked up scarves and purses, and other mementos. One in particular, right near the hotel, virtually everything was hand sewn by the owner. Lots of great linens and other items to choose from. I bought several gifts for friends back home, along with sachets and other items. This was probably my most favorite little shopping adventure on our entire river cruise. My fiancé and son trooped all the way up to the ruin in the pouring rain, but they thought it was a great opportunity to see the views and do some exploring. We really enjoyed our afternoon in this little town and would highly recommend it!

Walking through this castle is certainly an experience! When we were there, they had an exhibit…read morefrom the "monuments men" movie which was very interesting in the main floor rooms. Then we decided to go up to the top to see the view from the Keep (watchtower). It starts with a simple set of stairs, and then it gets much more challenging. The steps themselves are uneven, the risers aren't uniform so some steps are higher than others, and the steps just keep on coming. About halfway up, you get to the dovecote, where they would keep their carrier pigeons, which was really cool to see. It also gave you a great break from the steps. But the steps continue and get steeper and more challenging. I made it about 2/3 the way up, but my adult children made it all the rest of the way up and said the view from the very top was spectacular, but the view from the level I stopped at was pretty darn good too! I probably could've made the rest of the flights, but I was also getting concerned about getting back down due to the steepness of the steps and the shortage of good handrails. Definitely a climb you need to do with good footwear! We enjoyed the stop, and got great views of the valley, and would recommend it to others.