One of the first castles that we ever went to in France is still one of my favorites. It's called the Chateau de Pierrfonds and it's located in a small village of the same name.
It's only about an hour away from Paris and a short drive from where we live so last weekend we decided to go back for a second visit.
The Chateau was originally built in the 14th century by Louis d'Orleans on top of the foundation of an existing defensive structure.
It remained there on a small hill overlooking the village of Pierrfonds until the year of 1617 when a rival of the area besieged and conquered the Chateau and ordered its destruction.
Though the task of destroying it proved to be too great a challenge, it nonetheless went to ruins over the next few centuries.
In 1857 the castle gained new life though when Napoleon III commissioned its restoration and turned it into mostly what you see today.
I personally find the castle to be very unique among the chateaus in France because its not a palace like many of the others but more of a military fortress. But even despite that, it still has a lot of elegance and detail about it as well as some very serious fairytale vibes. To me its a perfect combination of function and elegance and it's not surprising that it has been used in several films including, The Man in the Iron Mask and more recently the Netflix series Versailles.
It's so well preserved after all these years and looks so fairy tale, I wish we had some of these in England
Try Warwick Castle, S of Coventry. It's unique, especially since they feature waxwork of the historic actors by Madame Tussaud inside. Must see!
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Warwick+Castle/@52.2889758,-1.6237486,12z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x2959a3d7dd5df385!2sWarwick+Castle!8m2!3d52.279668!4d-1.585228!3m4!1s0x0:0x2959a3d7dd5df385!8m2!3d52.279668!4d-1.585228
I'm surprised that there aren't more castles in England but maybe there wasn't a lot of competition for the throne?
Good one; Pierrefonds is one of my favorites, too. Especially the dense forests around it make it so appealing, when you approach it through the Forêt de Compiègne. As you come closer, every so often the massive structure shows between the trees. To me that feels a bit like time travel, gives me flights of fancy. You expect knights on horseback popping out of the woodwork around every turn :-)
Did you know they filmed large portions of the BBC show "Merlin" there?
Yes it definitely transports you back in time. The courtyard is really incredible as well, so much detail.
We actually went there to go hiking but access to the forest from the castle was blocked for some reason so we didn't end up doing that which was unfortunate. I'm sure there was another way to get in but we didn't take the time to find a trail.
I didn't realize that about Merlin. I'll have to check that out. Was it good?
The forest is to the north and west of Pierrefonds all the way to Compiègne. (S and E are mostly fields.) There are several départementales cutting through with plenty of dirt roads giving access. There must be a ton of trails
Merlin was O.K., a little on the lighter side and geared towards young adults. Entertaining, though. It's on Netflix Germany so it stands to reason that Netflix France carries it, too, being a European show and all.
Ok thanks, I'll take a look and see if its on there.
That is a massive castle against the village architecture. It does look different and has a cinematic appeal.
Yeah, I haven't seen Versailles the show but I would like to just to see how they use it in film. I saw it in Man in the Iron Mask but it was only glimpses from what I remember.
I haven't seen the series, Versailles either, same...I saw Man in the Iron Mask but couldn't remember the exact details and scenes.
The castle looks incredibly beautiful after all those years that passed over it! I love that!
Yes it's surprisingly well preserved
A great combination of function and elegance, it being a military fortress!
Napoleon III did well by restoring it, @leaky20.
I have seen Versailles.
Yes I agree.
Versailles is a must see castle in France for sure. It's one of those site that you have to see if you're able to. But personally, it's not my favorite castle in France.
What is your most absolute favorite castle?
Probably Chennonceux. It's not overly large but it's very unique and extremely well decorated inside. Chambord is up there as well. I just found Versailles to be rather plain and similar to a lot of other castles in the country so you're not seeing anything you can't see elsewhere and its also very expensive and over crowded for the most part.
Alright I needed more pictures, what a shame!
Dude this architecture is mind blowing, I even thought for a second "The castle in the back is superimposed", my brain couldn't compute that it was real.
I am born in Versailles, and lived there all my childhood, this is totally different from the architecture in the southwest of Paris, Les Yvelines.
I think this castle is in "L'Oise" region, I've never been there, it looks really amazin!
More pictures!!!
Yes it's in L'Oise.
Pierrfonds was one of my first posts about France. You can see that in the link below. You don't have to read the article but there are a lot more pictures, especially of the inner courtyard which is really cool.
https://peakd.com/travelfeed/@leaky20/french-living-blog-ii-chateau-de-pierrefonds
Thanks for quenching that thirst. Man, the inside did not disappoint neither, imagine living there hundreds of years ago, the life of the castle must have been something to see.
I don't know if I would have liked "living the life" though, with diseases, dirt and shit behind curtains, and just a general sense of imminent death 😁, but I am sure people will say the same thing about us in 300 years (if we're still here).
Yeah. I mean, lack of indoor plumbing alone is reason enough not to want to live at that time. It would be cool to go back just for a few days to check things out though. I'd definitely bring hand sanitizer with me.
I think bring a gun most importantly.
Haha that as well
Wow. I would like to visit there!
I hope that you get a chance one day!