The Château de Tiffauges is a medieval castle situated in the French commune of Tiffauges in the Vendée département.
The castle is also known as the château de Barbe-bleue (Bluebeard's castle) after its most famous resident, Gilles de Rais, known as Barbe-bleue. It was here that Bluebeard perpetrated his atrocities.
Location
The castle is in the Marches (border lands) between Brittany, Poitou and Anjou and thus an important strategic point. It is positioned on a hill at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise and Crûme rivers, this position providing protection against assailants.
History
The castle was built between the 12th and 16th centuries. The notorious murderer, Gilles de Rais (1404–1440) is associated with the castle.
Today
For a long time, the castle was abandoned and lay in ruins, the inner yard even used for a while as a football pitch by the local club, RST Tiffauges. The castle is now owned by the Conseil Général of Vendée. It hosts a series of spectacles and collections, including medieval war machines and an alchemy centre.

Château de Tiffauges

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The Château de Clisson is a castle in the commune of Clisson in the Loire-Atlantique département of France. It stands on the right bank of the Sèvre Nantaise.
History
Within then independent Brittany, the castle, situated at a crossroads for Anjou and Poitou, was one of the great fortified places on the frontiers of the Duchy of Brittany.
The first Lords of Clisson occupied the site from the 11th century. They are mentioned for the first time in 1040. Clisson was then the seat of a powerful châtellenie covering 23 parishes.
Most of the present castle was built in the 13th century. Constructed by Guillaume de Clisson, on a rocky outcrop dominating the Sèvre Nantaise, its form at that time was an irregular polygon flanked by round towers and isolated from the rocky plateau by a shallow moat. In the 14th century, Olivier III de Clisson incorporated the gatehouse into a massive quadrilangular keep. The two semicircular towers of the gatehouse collapsed in the 17th century. The castle became the setting for the turbulent lives of Olivier IV de Clisson and Olivier V de Clisson, named Constable of France in succession to Du Guesclin in 1380. The castle is said to be haunted by Jeanne de Clisson wife of Olivier IV.
In the 15th century, the fortifications were modernised to permit the use of artillery. In the second half of the century, the former entrance was modified and the curtain wall was extended and completed by a barbican. At the same time, the castle was enlarged to the west with a new rectangular enclosure nearly 100 m long, armed with towers with artillery casemates.
After 1420, the castle became the property of the Duke of Brittany. It was one of the favourite residences of Duke Francis II who was remarried there, to Marguerite de Foix in 1474. He built a second rectangular enceinte flanked by artillery towers. Around 1590, the troubled period of the French Wars of Religion necessitated the construction of three terraced bastions on the south. Thus, three lines of defence in depth protected the site.
Until the 17th century, the castle was the residence of the Avaugour family, descendants of François Ier d'Avaugour, illegitimate son of François II. He modified and transformed the castle to suit the tastes and fashions of the day. During the War in the Vendée, the town and its castle were burned by the Infernal columns of Jean-Baptiste Kléber. In 1807, the estate was bought by the sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot with the goal of conservation. During the 19th century, the ruined castle attracted Romantic painters and sculptors.
The remains of the castle were classed as a monument historique by a French Ministry of Culture decree of 13 August 1924. In 1962, the castle was sold by the Lamot family to the Conseil général of the Loire-Atlantique, who carried out important restoration works with the assistance of the French Ministry of Culture.
Art
The castle was the subject of Jean Metzinger's painting, Le château de Clisson (1905), displayed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.

Château de Clisson

The Château of Ardelay some 3 kilometers south of Les Herbiers is the smallest castle with a moat in the Vendée. It was bought by the local authority in 1984 in a ruined state covered in ivy, but thanks to the renovation in 1988 it has regained its pride. The Large 15th century square tower with red tiles, the walled courtyard and a smattering of other buildings are all that is left of original castle, although its remnants still dominate the village of Ardelay.
The wooden drawbridge, which has been restored to its former glory, crosses the water filled moat and gives access to a courtyard which is bordered by the main building dating from the 16th and 17th century this and the tower both have military fortifications. Within the huge rooms there are fine examples of granite fireplaces and it is possible to see the timbers that support the steep pitched roof which are exposed on the upper floors. 
So do not be afraid! ... Dare to cross the drawbridge and its firing chamber ... and just admire the stunning vestiges and be thankful that it escaped the Revolution and the Wars of Vendée.
Exhibitions are regularly staged here.
http://www.vendee-guide.co.uk/chateau-d%27ardelay.htm