La Roche Courbon Castle (Château de la Roche Courbon) on the Charente is now a popular destination, particularly because of its famous French formal gardens. The castle with its round corner tower, slate roofs and dormer windows rises behind a stone balustrade on Rue de la Belle au Bois Dormant, Saint-Porchaire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Below the terrace on the left lie the gardens with clipped box hedges. The castle dates back to the 15th century and was remodelled in the 17th century, when Jean-Louis de Courbon laid out French gardens. The writer Pierre Loti stayed there and wrote "La Bel