. In the feudal
days of the Adhemars, ancestors of the Grignan family, who possessed the
whole of the Comtat, these were probably the peel-houses, or outposts,
of the old Chateau, in the quarter from which it would have been most
exposed to attack. The Chateau Race-du-fort was, in all likelihood, also
the key of the mountain glen leading to the hill which we were
descending, and formed the line of communication with Montelimart, which
was formerly included in the family territory. The records on this
subject trace the foundation of the lordship of Grignan up to the days
of Charlemagne, who is said to have created Adhemar,[17] one of his
paladins, Duke of Genoa, as a reward for having re-conquered Corsica
from the Saracens. Adhemar having fallen in a second expedition against
the same enemy, his children divided his possessions: the elder
remaining Duke of Genoa, another possessing the towns of St. Paul de
Trois Chateau et Mondragon; and a third, the sovereignty of Orange. A
fourth possessed the town of Monteil, called after him Monteil Adhemar,
or Montelimart; and in 1160, the emperor Frederic I. granted to Gerard
Adhemar de Monteil, his descendant and heir, the investiture of Grignan,
with many sovereign rights, such as that of coining money. It was to
this noble family that the Count de Grignan, whose third wife was the
daughter of Madame de Sevigne, traced his blood and inheritance in a
direct line.

[Footnote 16: Vide Cooke's Views.]

[Footnote 17: "Je me rejouis, avec M. de Grignan, de la beaute de sa
terrasse; s'il en est content, les ducs de Genes, ses grands peres,
l'auraient ete; son gout est meilleur que celui de ce temps-la;
* * * * * ces vieux lits sont dignes des Adhemars."--_Mad. de Sevigne_.]

As we reached the level of the plain, and approached the castle, its
commanding height and structure seemed completely to justify Mad. de
S.'s expression to her daughter, "Votre chateau vraiment royal." Few
subjects certainly ever had such a residence as this; which, though
reduced to a mere shell by the ravages of the Revolution, still seems to
bespeak the hospitable and chivalrous character of its former possessor.
It rises from a terrace of more than a hundred feet in height, partly
composed of masonry, and partly of the solid rock. The town of Grignan,
piled tier above tier, occupies a considerable declivity at the foot of
this terrace, and communicates with the castle by a road which winds
round the ascent,