Chateau D’If

 

The Chateau D’If is a 16th century fort located on the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago, found off the coast of Marseille. Although the island is minuscule in size, it has much more to offer with respect to history. It was originally used as a fortress whose strategic location allowed King Francis I to defend the coastline of the city from sea-based attacks. A couple hundred years later it became a massive, isolated prison. In the past 200 years the island has become internationally famous due to the literary works of Alexandre Dumas. His acclaimed novel The Count of Monte Cristo takes place in Marseille, where the main character Edmond Dantes is imprisoned (and later successfully escapes) the Chateau D’If.

Museo-Casa Natal de Cervantes

  

 

The home and museum of Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes was a popular novelist, poet, and playwright from the 16th century. His famous work, Don Quixote, is considered to be the first modern European Novel. He has had a monumental influence on the Spanish language, and even has a Spanish holiday dedicated to him on the 8th of October! You can visit his house and look around. It’s pretty cool and gives you an idea of what medieval life was like.

Bronte Parsonage

          

The home of the Bronte family located in Haworth, Yorkshire. Now a major museum, this was where Charlotte and Emily Bronte wrote their famous novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I saw the very room where the Sisters wrote their famous novels as well as the actual desk, pens, and paper they used! I also saw the first edition of Wuthering Heights which took place in the Moors of Yorkshire!! The novels were originally written under male pseudonyms because it was not socially accepted for women to write in the 19th century. The house was still full of original furniture, including the couch that Emily Bronte died on in 1848. The Bronte Parsonage is packed densely with history and is a wonderful site to visit!