Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a fairy tale castle that overlooked the rivers of Indre and Loire……

And so transpired the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty, written by Charles Perrault after an inspriational stay at the castle.

This castle began being built over 1,000 years ago and has been added to and changed over the centures ever since, depending on the owner – it has changed hands many times.  You can go through some sections of the castle that have been restored.

The gardens were designed by the same landscape achitect who designed the Park at the Palace of Versailles, André Le Nôtre.

But the most intriguing exhibit was of Sleeping Beauty which is located in the circular tower on the right of the photo of the castle.  You begin at the bottom and wind your way up the spiral stone staircase, stopping to read excerpts of the fairytale complete with manequins depicting life sized scenes.  As you go higher, the story unfolds until at the top there is the handsome Prince with Aurora lying in her bed.

And, they all lived happily ever after.

No castle is complete without a prison.  A one room cell under the castle that was cold and stinky.  People were a lot shorter back then and the doorway was quite low.  Jeff knocked himself flat and almost unconscious as we were leaving the prison and now sports a war wound on his forehead.  Hence, no photos – I was a little distracted.

Stables and Carriage House

For the horse enthusiasts, there were some interesting horse drawn vehicles and harness.  The side saddle had seen better days but was intricately decorated.

A very pleasant way to spent a few hours, apart from the head injury 🙂

Jeff and Catherine xx