At the Château de Serrant, 15km west of Angers beside the N23 near ST-GEORGES-SUR-LOIRE, the combination of dark-brown schist and creamy tufa give a rather pleasant biscuit-cake effect to the outside (July & Aug daily guided tours leave regularly 10am–5.30pm; April–June & Sept to mid-Nov Wed–Sun guided tours leave hourly 10am–1pm & every 30min 2.15–4.15pm, plus 5.15pm; mid-Nov to Dec Sat & Sun guided tours at 10.30am, 11.30am, 2.30pm & 3.30pm; €9 www.chateau-serrant.net). But with its heavy slate bell-shaped cupolas pressing down on massive towers, the exterior is grandiose and imposing rather than graceful. The building was begun in the sixteenth century and added to, discreetly for the most part, up until the eighteenth century. In 1755 it belonged to an Irishman, Francis Walsh, to whom Louis XV had given the title Count of Serrant as a reward for Walsh's help against the old enemy, the English – Walsh had provided the ship for Bonnie Prince Charlie to return to Scotland for the 1745 uprising.The Walsh family married into the ancient La Trémoille clan, whose descendants – via a Belgian offshoot – still own the Château. The massive rooms of the interior are packed with all the trappings of old wealth, but the guide's endless cataloguing of the tapestries, paintings and furniture shouldn't put you off appreciating some real gems, including a complete edition of Diderot's Encyclopedia. Much of the decor dates from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but it's tastefully – expensively – done, and you are also shown the Renaissance staircase, the sombre private chapel designed by Mansart, a bedroom prepared for Napoléon (who only stopped here for a couple of hours), and the attractive vaulted kitchens. Alternate spellings:: France, Château de Serrant, Château de Serrant, Chateau de Serrant
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