A few months ago, I found an image on Pinterest of a château in with soaring arches and bright green perfectly manicured gardens. In true Pinterest fashion, there wasn’t a caption. But I was curious and knew there was a chance (even if it was slight) that the château was somewhere in France.

After some extensive googling, I found out the name, Château de Hautefort, and as luck would have it, it was close to our house. So we set out in our trusty Merc and headed for Hautefort. When we arrived, we walked up to the coolest drawbridge.
Once in the door, it opened up to a courtyard with fantastic views.
Past the courtyard and through the columns, up the stairs and past beautiful open windows, we finally entered the rooms, with walls dating back to the Middle Ages.
All the rooms were gorgeous, but my favorite was one particular bedroom with a fantastic bed, with feathers at the corners. Plus, all the drapes in the room were lined with tassels!!
One we finished touring the indoors, we went upstairs to the old watchtower. The views from up there were top notch!
Most of the château was surrounded by gardens, and even though it was late October and chilly, the gardens were well maintained and lush.
One we got our fill of the gardens (spending more time there than inside, per usual), we walked back through this quiet, romantic tunnel and back to reality.
Château de Hautefort is one of the oldest and best preserved châteaux I’ve been too, and I’d recommend it to anyone in the area! Entrance fee is €9.50/adult.