Chateaugiron is a small town located in the northwestern part of France in the Brittany region. It's nothing special as far as towns go but it does have a large castle to see if you're passing through the area. It's currently used as the town hall building but I'm not sure if you can go inside or not.
We stopped by there last year in May 2021 when the country was just opening up after several months of covid lock down. We were itching to travel but restaurant's and bars weren't open yet so there wasn't much to do other than kill time during the day by wandering through town and going for long walks. We ended up seeing a lot of small places in a very short period of time because of the situation.
We stopped in Chateaugiron after touring through the city of Vitre and on our way to a hiking spot in the woods. To be honest, there wasn't really much to see there so I would exactly recommend going. We just did a big circle around the castle before heading back to our car and going on our hike in the woods. I don't know much about the chateau other than it was built in the 12th and 18th centuries. When you look at it you can definitely see a distinction between the period architectures. The tower and keep are definitely medeival looking and the part that looks like the residence is clearly a much newer build and style.
There were a few green spaces around the Chateau as well, one of which had a small bridge that spanned a creek and natural landscape surrounding it. It was across from the castle itself and was a nice little spot to stop for a brief minute or two.
If you look closely at the photo above you can see a small object on the side of the tower. I'll get to that a little later. Maybe you can try and guess what it is in the mean time.
As mentioned the castle is currently being used as a town hall which would be a cool place to work if you were in that profession. I wish I could say that I work in a castle.
The courtyard is large but really plain except for two, somewhat interesting art pieces.
The first is this talking man sitting on a bench. It looks like my wife and him are having a conversation or maybe having a staring contest.
The second art piece is what you saw in the photo above. Two steel ants crawling on the outside of the tower. I wouldn't write home about them but we thought that they were at least mildly interesting - worth a mention in my blog, am I right?
That's basically it for Chateaugiron. The only other thing I saw there that was somewhat cool were these trees in bloom that were dropping their petals all along the sidewalk. I thought it looked like a natural red carpet.
After that we went for a walk in the Brocalinda forest nearby. I only took this one photo during the hike but it was actually a pretty cool walk for the day.
Château de Châteaugiron does have the Town Hall in there, in the main building, so most of it is closed off to the public. There isn't much there, is there? The tower did house a dungeon once upon a time. I guess all castles had them, didn't they?
Some redeeming reasons for living in this century.
The woods looked so pretty and it looks like a cockspur coral tree, but, I cannot be sure.
I envy the broad traveling that you have been doing! I have been overwhelmed at the moment, but, your posts are some of the most amazing travel, aimed at places that are easier to reach than some of the more off-the-beaten earthly paths. :)
I truly enjoy them and as a couple, you work together so nicely to make these posts wonderful. Thank you!
No there wasn't much in town other than the castle and maybe a few old houses. And yeah most castles do have their own dungeon, often in the basement or maybe a tower. Sometimes they are just a hole in the ground with a massive pit below that they lower the person into. That would be a crazy punishment.
Thanks for the nice words and the tip. That's so generous and you didn't have to do that but i appreciate it 😊
Love quirky art installations and the giant ant is a cool example. It brings life and humor to our otherwise too serious life. I wonder how the ant inspiration came to the artist when he was commissioned to create a piece for the chateau. The moat and the landscape are stunning. Discovering places like these are fun. I used to be obsessed with castles, I get giddy when I see the brown signage with a castle drawing on the highway. The family shrugs every time I get excited in the car.
Yeah the quirky art pieces are pretty cool. Very different than what you typically see.
I'm the same way with the signs. If I'm a passenger in the car I sometimes Google the location when I see them to see if it's something worth checking out. Many are but not all of them lol. There's also way too many to see them all.
Ah yes so many to see, stumbling upon a place that's so unknown adds to the charm though, like a gem you just discovered. Have a great week ahead!
Thanks, you as well
Chateaugiron is such a charming town. The buildings are pretty impressive and the greenery makes for a pleasant stroll. :)
Yeah it's notbad for a quick stop over. Not a place to spend a whole lot of time but it has some decent sites.
Those colors are definitely so much like France! I think there is no other green in the trees and leaves than the one that you have there! Great post! I like it a lot!!
Yes you're right, France does a certain look about it. Especially its buildings and architecture.
How travel changed lately… it is cool though to have photographs without “tourists”. We have lots of them from places close by when we couldn’t go far away.
We just needed to rethink our travels.
Beautiful photographs of the castle. Those red blooms are wonderful.
And the forest path… stunning. 😊☀️
Yes, copious amount of tourists are not something that I miss lol.
Yeah unfortunately for us we had already been to a lot of places near us, so it was/is harder and harder to find places that are close.
Yes, I don’t miss those, but they will return to the places we want to visit 😋😉 eventually…
I can imagine, luckily we still have many close by places we haven’t visited yet. Perks of moving around a lot. Everything is new every time.
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Yes. It's inevitable lol
That's good that you still have some places close by to see. Certainly makes it easier.
It sure does 😊
It's definitely a pleasurable walk when you are roaming around the castle and there's a forest nearby to go for a hike.
Yes, that's very true. Best of both worlds - seeing cool architecture and being in nature.
Wow this looks like such a beautiful part of the world, Brittany is an area of France that I’d love to visit. Fantastic post and pics, very interesting read.
There are a lot of neat places in Brittany to see. Especially if you like the fishing village or harbor town sort of vibe. I find all of Brittany feels that way, at least to me. Many spots are much nicer than this particular location though, to be honest. So maybe keep that in mind ifyou do go at some point.
Very nice nature and charming buildings!
I'm glad you liked them 😊
A very interesting place that you really must visit once.
I don't know if it's a must visit location. I'd say more of a "if you're passing through and need to stretch your legs" kind of place hahah😂
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beautiful place
Thanks! 😊
I am in Brittany, France. Hoping to visit this place someday. So many chateaus I need to visit. One of these days, I'll blog about some of the places I visited here in France. :)
That awesome that you are in the area. Brittany is great. This particular place wasn't overly exciting. There are much better locations in the region that I would recommend over it.
It's fine, it's a good thing for me to find another place where to stroll with the kids. :D