I am planning a trip to Paris in May '08. A friend who has never travelled to Europe is joining me. She would like to take a daytrip to see a castle. I don't think her idea of a castle is a palace. I think she's thinking more like the Tower of London type castle. Are there any castles near Paris that qualify or do we need to make a daytrip to London?

I've always wanted to see the Chateau de Vincennes, which is right on Metro Line 1 (I think) and has recently reopned. I think you can also walk out to it, at least part way, on a viaduct that has been tunred into a park.

Vincennes sounds like it might fit the bill.

I was thinking the exact same thing when thinking about castles in Paris region - Vincennes looks like a formidable bastion and castle - even more than the castles of the Loire which were mainly built for decoration than defense - Chinon and Loches the major exceptions i think

The castle in Angers is more of a fortress than a pleasure palace, very easy to reach from Paris by TGV and the city itself is one of France's most pleasant and worth exploring with lots of inexpensive delightful restaurants for lunch.

http://angers.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

Agree that Angers has a fortress (castle) completely different than the chateaux (which are much newer pleasure palaces rather than military fortifications).

The Louvre and Versailles are both gorgeous - but again - are palaces rather than castles.

www.chateau-vincennes.fr

I think both those are excellent ideas (Vincennes and Angers). My other thought, which is sort of in-between the two concepts, would be Chantilly. It is easy to get to outside of Paris by Train, and is a lovely small chateau and gardens. It has a moat and a small art collection. It is not the fortress type thing, was a private residence, but is nothing remotely like the large palaces.

And it contains my favorite library anywhere.

www.chateaudechantilly.com but perhaps more important www.museevivantducheval.fr

The newly restored castles in Nantes is another possibility. Has an interesting history and state of the art exhibits, plus the city itself is also worth seeing.
http://www.chateau-nantes.fr/

I would still pick Angers over Nantes (the Apocalypse tapestry in the Angers castle also tilts my rec toward Angers).

I'd also have you consider Angers. It has 17 large towers, a beautiful waterless moat (wonderfully manicured with flowers), and a ramparts that you can walk around.

But what draws me back is the Tapestry of the Apocalypse. Really beautiful!

Here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/27nwbe

One of Europe's most castle of your dreams castles is just a short RER ride from Paris - Sleeping Beauty Castle in Marne-la-Vallee.

Not sure if this really qualifies as a castle, but it only takes about an hr to go thru is The Conciergerie on Île de la Cité. I am interested in castles, myself, & the Conciergerie held plenty of interest for me. It ended up being a prison during the French Revolution & they still have the cell where Marie Antoinette was held before her beheading.

this is just what my Husband asked about, thanks for the answers