Château de Pierrefonds

So I don't have a car in France. It's not something that I really want either. I certainly don't have a need for one. Occasionally I miss driving, just for the fun of driving, but there's no way I'd want to drive in Paris! But one thing that's nice about having a car in an otherwise well-served-by-public-transport country, is the ability to get to those out-of-the-way and hidden sites.

An expat friend of mine recently bought a car now that she has a full-time job that requires one. We took a day trip to a castle she'd long wanted to visit as a way to celebrate and to "break it in," in a way. Without a GPS or map, and directions copied from Google, we set out to find this gem of a relic and we were very happy that we did!

 Château de Pierrefonds

 the courtyard

 there were really incredible carved-stone drainpipes in the form of alligators

 and other vaguely reptilian beasts

 and other little carved faces and beings

 the porcupine was the symbol of the Ducs d'Orléans, a line who gave the King Louis XII

their motto was: « Qui s'y frotte s'y pique » ("Those who rub up here will be poked," a warning to adversaries like "those who play with fire will get burned")