THE online travel guide France-Voyage.com features an in-depth look at the castles and palaces of France as part of their website.
Buildings described by the word "château" in French can take many architectural forms with more than 10,000 structures built over the past millennium. The guide provides information on buildings of particular interest focusing on their architectural features, history and the figures who lived there.
Easily the most famous castle is the extravagant residence of the Sun King in Versailles which receives more than six million visitors every year. Further south, every trip around the Loire Valley should include a visit to Chambord, the largest of the Loire castles with 440 rooms, 800 sculpted capitals and 282 fireplaces.
Those who want to travel back in time will appreciate the castle forts of Auvergne and Périgord, as well as the impressive hillside fortresses of the Cathars in Languedoc.
The France-Voyage.com guide also features less famous but equally interesting castles, such as Bazoches, the beautiful house at the heart of Morvan where Vauban designed more than 300 fortified structures and Virieu, a remarkable medieval fortress overlooking the Bourbre Valley.
For a virtual tour of the castles and palaces of France go to francevoyage.com/travel-guide/chateaux-panorama_1.htm.
