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The Fairy Tale Castle Does Really Exist: Visiting Chateau d’Ussé
If you love castles, you will love this one
Sleeping Beauty, anyone? When I heard there was a castle (or chateau) called the Fairy Tale Castle, I admit I was skeptical. Aren’t they all the stuff of fairy tales?
But after reading about d’Ussé online, and planning to visit chateaux in the Loire Valley, I added it to my list of things to see. And it was fascinating in ways I didn’t expect.
Firstly, I think every chateau in the Loire Valley is different. Chambord is amazing, Chenonceau is beautiful (I’ll write about them another time). As soon as I saw d’Ussé, I thought — aha, fairy tale indeed. Turrets, high windows, round towers. Perfect ingredients.
Then I discovered that the writer credited with writing the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale (Charles Perrault) was actually inspired by this chateau. So the castle came first, then the story.
It began life as a fortress, as many chateaux do, made of stone and wood and perched above the river, with views across the valley and with the forest behind it. Over the centuries, it was gradually rebuilt and…
