Château de Candé

Château de Candé Review

When Edward VIII of England abdicated his throne in 1937 to marry the American divorcée Wallace Simpson, the couple chose this elegant 16th-century château (located 10 minutes south of Tours) to escape from international limelight and exchange their wedding vows. Open to the public since 2000, the lovely museum offers a video and guided tour through the rooms of the chateau. While decorated with period furnishings and Art Deco bathrooms, all eyes are drawn to the mementos from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's stay (including the famous Cecil Beaton photographs taken on the big day) along with the haute couture wardrobe of the fashionable lady of the house, Fern Bedaux. Befitting the owners' flawless taste (if questionable politics, as the Bedauxs were known fascist sympathizers), the château is a particularly pretty example of late Gothic style—the perfect setting for the Windsors' "fairy-tale" marriage.