Chateau de Langeais

Langeais was rebuilt from 1465 by Louis XI and stopped there, so unlike the Loire chateaux that kept being modernised it stayed a late medieval building; the drawbridge still works and is raised and lowered for visitors. Charles VIII married Anne of Brittany here in 1491, the marriage that began Brittany's union with France, and the ceremony is staged in one room with wax figures in reconstructed costume. Jacques Siegfried, who bought it in 1886, furnished the rooms with fifteenth-century pieces and tapestries and gave the whole thing to the Institut de France. In the park stand the ruins of a stone keep built around 994, among the oldest in France.

What you actually see

• The working drawbridge - raised and lowered at the gate.
• The medieval interiors - rooms furnished with fifteenth-century pieces and tapestries.
• The royal wedding tableau - the 1491 marriage staged with figures.
• The tenth-century keep - ruins of one of France's oldest stone towers in the park.

When to go

April to October; the castle opens year-round with shorter winter hours. A treehouse walk in the park suits families. The town is small and quiet.

Honest expectations

The wax figure tableau divides opinion and feels dated to some. The keep in the park is a fragment. The castle is compact and seen in an hour or so.

Nearby

Villandry lies east; Usse is southwest.