Eu castle and la Grande Mademoiselle's sorrows
And also
The tops
Former Eu castle rebuilt by Charlemagne was a wall against Norman's invasions at the end of 11th century. Did you know Rollo, famous Viking leader, died in 925, during the fortress' siege?
Joan of Arc slept here before the English took her in order to burn her in Rouen.
But current castle was put up in 1581, built in brick and stone by order of Catherine de Cleves and his husband duke of Guise. The architect was Claude Leroy.
In 1663 la Grande Mademoiselle (better known as duchess de Montpensier, Louis XIV's cousin) laid out landscape garden.
Ah, la Mademoiselle... you know what? She had a crush on the duke de Lauzun, an incorrigible womanizer. The king forbade their wedding and put the fop in jail.
The duchess gave her earldom of Eu to Louis XIV's son in order to take her lover from this mess. Now married, gossip said Lauzun had to walk on knees in one of Eu's galleries to be forgiven...
This castle became the perfect royal residence: king Louis-Philip liked to come here with his family. The famous architect Viollet-le-Duc made at Eu several altering for count of Paris.