ELTIPS AV R T

Particularly when your guide informs you that the circular lookout point at the top consists solely of wooden beams, delicately balanced on the 34m-tall stone tower.

But since this impressive structure has stayed put since the 13th century, I figured I was safe.

And the views across this handsome walled town in France’s Loire Valley were worth the risk.

I came here with my husband and nine-month-old son, looking for a weekend away that offered the culture and sightseeing of our pre-parenthood city breaks, minus the bustle.

Strolling the winding streets of the old town around the castle, where the half-timbered buildingsdings date back to 1423, there’s barelyely a soul to be seen.

In stark contrast to London, where we boarded the Eurostar to Lille and travelled onwards by TGV in five-and-a-half hours, this dairy- producing region has twice as many cows as people.

So revered is the white stuff here ere that a former cheese factory has been converted into a quirky ky museum called Lactopole,l e, housing 4,000 objects related to the milk industry. Visits are by guided tour on weekday afternoonsoons and end with a cheese tasting.

The locals we did encounter unter stopped to coo over the baby y on their two-hour lunch breaks – only GRAB a window seat at the quaint Creperie Ty Billig and feast on galettes, washed down with tea cups of Breton cidre. ENJOY a quiet moment at Cathédrale de la Trinité de Laval. It dates back a thousand years but has a mix of Roman and Renaissance design. THE guided tour of Laval’s castle includes a visit to the crypt. It has the remains of a mummy and rare propaganda statue of Jesus dressed as a French soldier.