The next location that I visited with my sister was the the small town of Pierrefonds. It was located about 40 minutes from my home and the town boasts a massive mideival castle called the Chateau de Pierrfonds.
These things together made it an ideal location to bring guests that came to visit. It's close by, it's impressive and it's something to do. What more can a guest ask for really?
By the way the town is located only about an hour and 30 minute drive from Paris so it makes for a pretty decent day trip from the big city as well.
The castle was originally built as a military fortress but definitely also gives off some serious fairytale vibes.
It must be the many conical turrets and towers.
Maybe it was the blue sky effect but the color also gave me that impression as well.
When I saw it the first time I immediately thought of Sleeping beauty and perhaps Cinderella.
The castle is situated way up on a hill as if to stand guard over the small town below.
The town itself is only slightly touristy and still has that quaint lived in feel about it. There are no shops selling touristy crap, just small cafes and restaurants and outdoor terraces. Maybe an ice cream stand or two.
Dammit to the scaffolding covering most of the castle exterior.
Its nice that they are continually maintaining the landmark but it really detracts from the overall look when you visit it. I'm sure that it will be gone eventually.
I like the rooftops poking through the trees in the photo above.
Heading through the outer gates brought us into the small but very elaborate and detailed courtyard. The stonework and statues were really spectacular in there.
Fun fact, this courtyard can be seen in the movie The Man in the Iron Mask starring Leonardo Dicacprio. It only appears on screen for a brief moment in a scene at night but I could recognize it when I re-watched the film a year or so ago.
That movie was produced long before the film industry's reliance on CGI, back in a time when real sites were required... but I'm not here to talk about that. Let's head inside!
The castle interior was fairly sparse in terms of furniture and mostly seemed to focus on the construction and renovation of the castles exterior.
Is a winged lion considered a Griffin or does it need to have the head of an eagle?
Bronze and plaster statues and other building features and designs were showcased throughout along with a brief description of each.
Above is a winged bull seen next to the commode. The bull is a small version of one of the four mythical beast statues found at the castle entrance. The bull is pondering a small snail sitting on its arm.
These knight statues were seen outside the armory in the great hall or Worthies Room.
If memory serves me correctly, this room once contained several real suits of armors that decorated its walls.
Same room viewed from the opposite direction.
As you can see it's currently just a long empty room without any real furnishings.
The dual fireplace is very impressive though.
It's decorated with nine statues of women that according to an information board, represent the Nine Worthies. They were carved in the appearance of the Emperor Napoleon III's Empress and her ladies in waiting.
I liked the rich colors of the room and the differing textures created by the woodwork and the wallpaper.
I sort of got onto a kick of taking photos of wall paper and differing textures that day.
Wallpaper, wood, fabric. It probably wouldn't be interesting if I didn't point it out to you but now that I did I'm hoping you thought, "hmm, that is sort of neat."
I believe that they are porcupines, not hedgehogs. But who can really tell?
So much detail, even on the ceiling.
Here is another room.
There is really a lot going on in this one but it all seems to work together nicely.
Do you agree?
A stained glass window followed by another.
And here is a lit up cabinet that is giving off window like vibes so that one will be next.
Perhaps now I will break to point out the low doorways. They are almost headbangers but not quite. I guess it depends on how tall you are.
The adjoining church with a statue of St Michael seen both from above,
as well as below.
The last place to see during your tour of the castle is the crypt in the basement.
I don't believe that there are actually any corpses down there, just the tombs, or maybe just replicas.
Either way, there are a lot of them and they are quite neat to see. It's cool down there on a hot day so that's also a nice reprieve.
And so concludes our day at the Chateau de Pierrfonds and of the town itself.