This decadently ornate chateau's grim story began when Pierre de Breze, a wealthy minister to Charles VII and seneschal of Normandy, died and left it to his son, Jaques. Despite inheriting his father's powerful position and immense wealth, Jaques could not hold on to the love of his new wife, Charlotte, who took a lover. The young man would visit her in her chamber in the castle and it is said that Jaques was driven mad with jealousy and loneliness as he listened to the sounds of their lovemaking. The couple were murdered, and it is believed to have been at the hands of Jaques himself. Shortly after their deaths, he is said to have left the castle because he could not bear the sounds made by the ghostly lovers. The castle itself is the tallest in Normandy, and was built on the ruins of the old dungeons of Anet. It has seven floors filled with richly woven tapestries, gilded walls and ceilings, a magnificent collection of antique furniture and its own theatre framed with crystal-encrusted, carved wooden columns. The eclecticism doesn't stop with the interior; due to its having been built in stages, and under the instruction of several generations of Breze, the architectural style varies a great deal. It is fronted by a set of sweeping steps, topped by numerous tall chimneys and pointed roofs, and appears to be squeezed in between two asymmetric towers, giving it a sense of distorted, gothic melancholy.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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