Climb the keep at Bazoges-en-Pareds

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Bazoges-en-Pareds is a village in the Vendée bocage, in western France, gathered around a medieval castle. Its castle was built in the 14th century on the foundations of an older one, and its walls once enclosed the parish church. The keep dates from the 1380s and, according to the local tourist office, was raised by the knight and lord Jehan Girard; it served as both fortress and lordly residence.

Surrounded by dry moats, the keep has seven levels of rooms, some vaulted and with fine fireplaces, and it stands alongside a 16th-century dovecote. The church shows two building campaigns, from the 12th and 15th centuries, matching its two side-by-side naves, and armorial corbels in the lords' chapel recall the families linked to the castle. The keep has been a listed historic monument since 1927, and the protection was extended in 2003 to the church, the dovecote, the remains of the fortifications and the Renaissance gateway. The castle belongs to the commune.

Today visitors can climb the spiral staircase through five furnished levels, from the armoury and great hall to the lord's apartments, up to a wall-walk about 30 metres high with views over the bocage. Next to the keep, a medieval-inspired garden of more than 3,000 square metres, created in the 1990s and holding France's Remarkable Garden label, is laid out in squares of vegetables, symbolic flowers, medicinal herbs and aromatic plants, with an orchard and the old dovecote at its edge. A museum of popular arts and traditions completes the visit. The site is open seasonally, so check dates before travelling.

Spend a morning in the keep and garden, then walk around the old village and continue to the Neolithic site known as the Ciste des Cous.

Craft beer is still a rare find in Bazoges-en-Pareds, so keep an eye out for something local while exploring the Vendée bocage.