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Chateau de la Napoule Review

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Château de la Napoule

Address: Av. Henry Clews, Mandelieu-La Napoule
Phone: 04-93-49-95-05
www.chateau-lanapoule.com

Category: Castles/Palaces
Location: Mandelieu-La Napoule

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Fodor's Review:

Set on Pointe des Pendus (Hanged Man's Point), the Château de la Napoule, looming over the sea and the port, is a bizarrely wonderful hybrid of Romanesque, Gothic, Moroccan, and Hollywood cooked up by the eccentric American sculptor Henry Clews (1876-1937). Working with his architect-wife, he transformed the 14th-century bastion into something that suited his personal expectations and then filled the place with his own fantastical sculptures. The couple resides in their tombs in the tower crypt, its windows left slightly ajar to permit their souls to escape and allow them to "return at eventide as sprites and dance upon the windowsill." Today the château's stylish and well-funded foundation hosts visiting writers and artists, many of whom are American, who set to work surrounded by Clews's gargoyle-like sculptures. You may visit the gardens from 2:30 to 6, March through October, without the guided castle tour.

Cost: EUR 6
Open: Feb.-Oct., daily 10-6; guided visits at 11:30, 2:30, and 3:30; Nov.-Jan., daily 2-5; guided visits at 2:30 and 3:30

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