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Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard

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Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard Review

Continue around the eastern shore to get to the magnificent Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard. The exterior is the stuff of fairy tales (so much so that Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle on it); the interior is even better. The castle's medieval rooms—many adorned with tapestries, Romanesque frescoes, Netherlandish sideboards, and heraldic motifs—have been lovingly restored by the owner, who can trace his ancestry directly back to Saint Bernard himself. All in all, this is one of the loveliest dips into the Middle Ages you can make in all of Europe. You can get a good view of the castle by turning onto the Thones road out of Veyrier.

    Contact Information

  • Address: Annecy, 74000
  • Phone: 04-50-60-12-05
  • Cost: €8 (€9 for costumed visits on weekends and holidays)
  • Hours: July and Aug., daily noon--6; May, June, and Sept., Fri., weekends and holidays 2--6; Oct.--Apr., Thurs. and weekends 2--4:30
  • Website: www.chateau-de-menthon.com
  • Location: Annecy
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    Château de Menthon-St-Bernard Review

    Hopeless. A real rip-off. You get sold tickets by a kid. You can only see a few rooms, and they are dusty and neglected, filled with un-wanted lumber from various different unrelated historical periods. The place is like a junk shop.

    Worse, in each room you have to listen to local schoolkids reciting texts they've learned and in one room, one of these poor brats plays an out-of-tune piano. It's truly torturous. Just totally annoying and inappropriate.

    To add to the irritation, the kids wear "costumes" made from machine-washable nylon - just the sort of rubbish you see in school plays. Trainers underneath them. No particular period, just a vague idea that a long dress = olden days, right?

    Why don't they employ adult actors? Because kids are cheaper. And you thought child exploitation was finished in Europe! Not here... where the feudal owners of the castle are still in residence, living off the money brought in by these kids and their "animated tours". Yuk. I totally regret going here.

    by wordsmith99, 5/24/10

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