Château de La Ballue

Château de La Ballue Review

Nineteenth-century writers Alfred de Musset, Honoré de Balzac, and Victor Hugo were all once guests at this quintessential Normand château, famed for its sophisticated gardens that feature witty modern sculpture, mannerist leafy groves, impressive columns of yew, a fernery, a labyrinth, and a Temple of Diana. La Ballue dates from 1620 and has a rather forbidding, severe exterior. Inside, however, the dynamic English-speaking owners Alain and Marie-Françoise Mathiot-Mathon offer a warm welcome. Gleaming wood paneling and period antiques grace the main floor, from which a huge granite staircase leads up to the lovely guest rooms—four large, beautifully decorated, fabric-swathed salons (each with a four-poster bed).