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.