Stone Soup is a French folktale. Many interesting folktales and fairy tales come from France. Much of France looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale. France has hundreds of castles. Here are the top five fairy tale-like castles in France.

#5 Cité de Carcassonne (SIT-ay de Car-ca-SUN)

This castle is near the border of Spain. Romans built the castle in the year 333. Rulers added to it over the years. It was finished in the 1300s. The castle was made to protect the town. It had high walls. It had 40 towers. No one knows how many princesses were kept in those towers. (Just kidding.)

#4 Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg (shah-TOW deh HOTE KONE-igs-burg)

This castle was built in the 1100s. It sits on the top of a mountain. The castle is near the Black Forest. It was made to protect the city. It was the perfect place for brave knights to live. The castle was built out of pink sandstone. This gives it a reddish glow. It is located in a part of France called Alsace. This is on the border of France and Germany. More than half of a million people visit this castle every year.

#3 Château de Bonaguil (shah-TOW deh bone-ah-GILL)

This castle was built in the 1200s. It is in southern France. It was built on a steep cliff. The cliff sits between two rivers. The castle has a deep moat. It has a drawbridge. It has thick walls. The walls were built to keep out enemy fire. They also kept out fire-breathing dragons.

#2 Mont Saint-Michel (MONE SUN mee-SHELL)

The castle was built on a small island. It was built in the 700s. It is in Normandy. Normandy is in northwest France. The castle sits at the mouth of a river. The river flows into the English Channel. When the tide is low, you can walk along the sand to get to the castle. When the tide is high, you cannot. France’s king turned the castle into a prison in the 1400s. Today, it is open to tourists. More than three million people visit it every year.

#1 Versailles (vare-SIGH)

This is one of the best-known castles in France. It is near Paris. It was built as a palace. It was a home for the king. This castle is beautiful both inside and out. It spreads over nearly 40 square miles of land. The palace has 2,300 rooms. It has many gardens and fountains. Today it is a museum. About five million people visit it every year. Nearly ten million people visit its gardens each year. It is probably the most visited castle in all of France.