Come around the last bend in the road, and Chambord simply stops you. Out of the flat forest of the Sologne rises a fantasy in pale stone, a great white

A little to the north of Paris, set amid forests and reflected in the still waters that surround it, stands one of the most romantic and treasure-filled palaces in all

There is no other castle in the world quite like Chenonceau. Most great chateaux sit proudly on a hill or beside a river; Chenonceau does something far more daring. It

Of all the châteaux of the Loire, none is more beloved or more romantic than Chenonceau, the graceful palace that stretches out across the River Cher on a series of

High on a rocky spur above the little town of Foix, where two mountain rivers meet at the foot of the Pyrenees, three great towers rise against the sky. This

Some castles look exactly like the castle of a fairy tale, with soaring towers, pointed roofs, battlements and drawbridges, all arranged in perfect romantic splendour. The Chateau de Pierrefonds, rising

There is a picture, painted more than six hundred years ago, that shows a castle so beautiful it hardly seems real: a vision of white towers and golden weathervanes and

On the eastern edge of Paris, where the city gives way to a great wooded park, stands one of the most remarkable and least expected of all French castles: the

On a white chalk cliff high above a great loop of the River Seine, in the heart of Normandy, stand the broken but still mighty walls of Château Gaillard. Even

Some castles tell one story. The Chateau Royal de Blois tells four at once. Stand in its courtyard and turn slowly around, and you will see the whole history of