Château de Pierrefonds

Many people know the above building as "The Merlin Castle". Those people who know me, know that I produced the Visual Effects for the last series (4) and I also have a a lot of love for big old buildings. When I was told I was being sent out to France for a production meeting, it was right up my street! A beautiful, sleepy village just outside Paris. It's just a shame I spent most of my time there in a hot catering tent having meetings! The village is untouched and non-commercial France at its best. I'm definitely going to try and head back at some point. Traditional cafes line the street at the bottom of the castle and there are barely any tourists in sight. (apart from the few there to get a Merlin/Arthur autograph!)

I shan't give you my own small potted history of the building, I'm just going to send you to Wikipedia in case you'd like to learn a bit more about it! 

And here are my photos which I managed to catch in my last 15 minutes there. I just think it's the most beautiful and imposing building I've seen in years. 

The famous steps that you see in so many scenes! 

For those who watch the show, you can see a little bit of the set in the image below, looking down from the castle. I've not included any more set images, as it gives too much magic away!