France/Belgium March 2018 – The Easter Chateau Tour

Highlights From This Trip

• 6 Days
• 20 Locations Explored
• Loads of chateus
• Many churches

France is truly the land of beautiful forgotten chateaus and neglected grand mansions. We decided to take a 6-day road trip to France just before Easter, with yet another ambitious route map with some truly breathtaking locations ahead of us. We travelled well over 2000 miles in this relatively long Euro trip, enjoying some excellent camping spots.

One of the main targets of this trip was Chateau Sarco. This relatively modern chateau did not disappoint, with its beautiful wrought iron circular balustrade overlooking the ground floor. The almost pristine chateau has a beautiful black and white checker floor tiles, contrasting with the bold red carpet on the stairs.

The second key location was Chapel Des Pelotes, a disused chapel which was part of a seminary. The tall ceilings feature marble statues, which make for a stunning photograph from the mezzanine floor. The light filtering through the stained glass windows during the “Golden Hour”, imparted a homely warm glow above the altar.

We visited many other chateaus on our journey, to name but a few; Chateau Samsonova/Merko, Chateau Poseidon, Chateau Golf, Chateau Assassin’s Creed. We also paid a visit to an abandoned thermal spa complex, Les Thermes Bleus. We also visited some almost untouched houses, featuring some of the most beautiful antique furniture.

We ended our tour, with a day in Belgium. By chance we revisited a classic location, Chapelle Des Mineurs, which has decayed beautifully since I visited over 2 years ago. We explored a collection of slot machines and arcade video game cabinets, stored in a pitch-black warehouse. As no trip to Belgium would be complete without some decaying houses, Maison Francine/Mold House II provided a deceptively beautiful explore towards the end of our trip.

After one night at home, I flew over to East Germany to see some fantastic ballrooms! Check out my Germany April 2018 – The Easter GDR Tour blog article for sneak preview photos.