Below: A view of the front of the castle as you approach up the steep, winding drive - well, castles are usually on knolls, aren't they? As you look at the photo, the jousting will take place just off left, viewable from the grey stone balcony, the rose garden is behind you, and the picnic areas where the people are gathered on the stone balcony near left and on the grass. It did fill up a bit more nearer lunchtime, and taking one's own lunch and coffee was a wise move!
Below: A stately home or castle is not complete without resident peacock. He didn't display his tail feathers unless you refused to give him some sandwich...
Here he is again in close-up:
Below: The ornamental gardens in front of the castle facade, back down the hill. This is actually a rose garden, but we were a couple of weeks too early - they were still in bud:
Aren't they lucky to have a whole valley as their garden? Below, a further detail from the garden:
