A Fairy Tale Castle

Chateau Usse is reputed to be the place where Sleeping Beauty was written in 1697. We had previous photographed this chateau in 1998 from a distance as it was not open then and visited other chateaux instead. We loved the visit to this chateau where we were able to see a retelling of the story in wax works high in the tower and ramparts of a part of the chateau. I am afraid the little girl in me came out, I really loved seeing this exhibition.
After this we visited another part of the chateau where there was a more truly historical exhibit of life and times at the chateau and French history. There was a ling gallery with reproductions of thrones of the kings of France and rooms set up replicating the grand life lived by the chateau owners in the past. We also saw the jail under the castle where local people were imprsoned for offenses. One woman was jailed for 10 days for something to do with grazing rites.
There were also caves in the cliff which were made when blocks were carved out to make the chateau or repair ir and then as a winery. Of course there was a tiny chapel for St Vincent the patron of winemakers.
The chapel of St Anne was pretty and is still used today for baptisms, wedding and funerals of the family.
The gardens were beginning to show a lovely spring flowering.
A long drive to Bordeaux followed and we were glad to arrive in our beautiful Chateau accomodation in the foot of the chateau tower.This is the oldest part of the chateau built in 1341 and, for those who are history buffs, its named after its first Lord who was a squire od Edward III of England. In 1582-1583 it was an asylum to Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, along with several other historic figures. The tower we are staying in is the part he would have been housed in.
That evening we drove the 5 minutes to St Emilion and ended up in a wine bar (where else) after traversing some steep and windy cobbled streets. Sitting by the bar we were pleasantly amazed when a long sharp knife was directed across the bar to us with some duck terrine on the end for us to taste as we waited for our delicious seared tuna and smoked duck tapas. So delicious accompanied by some local wine.

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