oops, careful here.... Moats? Chenonceau doesn't have any. If you are in Chenonceau and you see water, you are looking at the river Cher, which flows around and under the castle, i.e. the gallery is built like a bridge across the Cher.
Sleeping Beauty's castle is not Chenonceau but the Chateau d'Ussé, to the sout-west of Tours. It was here that Perrault was inspired to write "La Belle au bois dormant" = "The Beauty in the sleeping forest" which was part of a collection of fairy tails entitled "Les comptes de ma mère l'oye" = The Stories of Mother Goose.
lol... i was worried i'd used the wrong term when calling this walled water feature a moat, so i looked at the wikipedia entry on chenonceau, where i found:
"In rebuilding the Chenonceau château in the 16th century, Thomas Bohier razed the castle-keep and the fortified mill of the Marques family, erecting the new château upon the piers of the former mill and keeping only the ancient donjon: The Marques Tower, which he transformed in Renaissance style. The forecourt reproduces the layout of the former medieval castle demarcated by the moats."
i realize the castle itself sits on the river, but where the river is diverted into these walled passages that run across the front of the castle and its lands, they're called moats.
i could have sworn someone told me (or i read in the literature at the castle) that it was the inspiration for sleeping beauty. it would not have occurred to me to think of that on my own, as i'd never even heard that sleeping beauty's home was based on a real castle. but you're right - it's definitely not mentioned in the wikipedia article.
--
Well done is better than well said. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Well, I wouldn't have used the word "moat" for what they have at Chenonceau.... but there you go - you live and learn.
You know, the idea about Sleeping Beauty's castle might have come from some folders with tourism info I might have given you, or we might have talked about it, because we did in fact go to Ussé last summer, together with some other house guests. I can't remember if it was before or after your visit, but it's very possible that "Sleeping Beauty's Castle" was mentioned somehow.... and later, for some reason, you got it mixed up with Chenonceau....
Daily Literature Deviations is a group that is dedicated to bringing literature to the forefront of the deviantArt community. We attempt to accomplish this by daily featuring Literature artists from around the community that deserve the recognition, but are not getting it.
Each day we will feature 10 deviations from the Literature categories in a News Article. In order to support the artists that we feature, we ask that you the news article as well as check out the individual pieces. We understand that each day you may not be able to check out each and every one of the pieces, everyone has their own things going on. We just ask that you make an attempt to help support the growing Literature community.
When it comes to community spirit, `Rushy is a shining example. From participating in devmeets, to providing positive encouragement to other artists, `Rushy can always be found demonstrating what it really takes to be a true deviant. It's without any hesitation that we are delighted to award the Deviousness Award for July 2009 to `RushyRead More
--
Well done is better than well said. ~ Benjamin Franklin
And medium rare is better than well done ~ valdev