Romantic, romantic, romantic! This chateau was a real treasure to find. My two girlfriends & I stayed here for a long weekend early in the spring. We were pleasantly surprised to find out on arrival that we were the ONLY guests – and therefore had free reign over the chateau and its grounds (including the castle proper, the tower, the chapel, the pigeonnaire, moat). The building where breakfast is served was once used to feed pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela , Spain .

For dinner, we went to Taillebourg, which has an excellent little guesthouse serving fantastic regional food. The nearby village of Port d’Enveaux yielded a morning market, and the manager arranged for us to rent bicycles and explore the surrounding countryside. Although the Chateau is near the famous regions of Cognac , La Rochelle , and the Ile de Re, we spent all of our time in the local area, walking through the woods & farmland, and soaking up the atmosphere of the castle. We... more