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Today we took an excursion outside of Paris to visit the château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, a Baroque French château located 34 miles southeast of Paris, in the Seine-et-Marne department of the Île-de-France. We had made arrangements with Serge, our friend who operates a chauffeur service, to transport us to the château in the late morning, and then retrieve us around 3:00 PM for the return ride to Paris. Over the years, we have engaged his services for excursions to the palace and gardens of Versailles (2014), the Château de Sceaux (2017), and Monet’s former home and gardens in Giverny (2019).
The château de Vaux-le-Vicomte was built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances for Louis XIV, and was an influential work of architecture in 17th-century Europe. Fouquet spent enormous sums, over a period of twenty years, building the château on his property. In terms of the sheer size of the estate, and the extravagant decor of the château, Vaux-le-Vicomte became the forerunner of the Palace of Versailles. Today it is the largest private château in France, and has been in the hands of the same family since 1967.
The château and its formal gardens were lavish
and dazzling, but those characteristics proved to be tragic for its owner. The young king, being the arrogant and egocentric twit that he was, arranged for Fouquet to be arrested shortly after a famous
fête that took place in August 1661. This celebration had proven to be too impressive, and the château too luxurious, for the king’s sensitive ego.
Although Fouquet's intentions had been to flatter the king, his plan backfired. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, another of the king’s ministers and a rival of Fouquet, convinced the king that Fouquet’s extravagant expenditures had been financed by the misappropriation of funds from the public treasury. Thanks largely to the machinations of Colbert, Fouquet was arrested and subsequently imprisoned until his death in 1680.
We arrived at the château by 11 o'clock, and Serge was gracious enough to accompany us into the ticketing area, where his French-speaking ability expedited our entry. After we entered the grounds, we were surprised (and a little shocked) to discover that there were very few visitors, with no throngs of tourists in sight. We fully expected this venue to be swarming with people, particularly at this time of year. Instead, we had the impression that we had
the place pretty much to ourselves!
Our plan was to begin with a tour around the extensive gardens of the estate, which cover in excess of 1,200-acres. We knew we could not even scratch the surface of this enormous area on foot. Fortunately, the château offers golf carts for rent (25-euros/hour, with a 200-euro security deposit), a short distance from the entrance.
So we loaded ourselves into a cart, and then began our self-guided tour of the gardens. For the next hour, we wound our way along the many gravel paths that crisscross the property, passing by and around the marvelous formal gardens that are sprinkled with statues, fountains, water basins and canals.
About mid-way through our tour, we located a shady spot, pulled over to the side of the pathway, and munched on the baguette sandwiches that Dee had prepared as a kind of picnic lunch. At this point, we were approaching the end of this immense property, which stretches nearly a mile-and-a-half from the rear facade of the château. We were so far away, it looked to be the size of a doll house!
After our picnic lunch, we chugged our way back toward
Gardens
Vaux-le-Vicomtethe château, snapping photos of the gorgeous scenes that surrounded us. When we had returned the golf cart, Dee found a spot to sit out of the sun, while I visited the interior of château itself. There are several massive staircases that must be be ascended (and then more to reach the upper level), which would have been too difficult for Dee to manage.
I spent about 30 minutes walking through the roped-off sections where visitors are permitted. The interior rooms, including bed chambers, private studies, dining and public rooms, give a good sense of the opulence that characterized this château in the 17th-century. Down in the basement, there are re-creations of the kitchen and scullery areas, as well as a wine cellar.
After I finished my visit inside of the château, I rejoined Dee, and we began our walk back to the parking area where we would meet Serge. Since we had finished our tour earlier than expected today, Dee gave him a call, and it turned out he had been sitting in his car doing paperwork the entire time! So we hopped aboard for the return drive to Malakoff, and arrived in our garden cottage around
Gardens
Vaux-le-Vicomte 3:30 PM.
Later, we had another enjoyable conversation with our hostess, Madame Dominique, who shared her appreciation of Vaux-le-Vicomte with us. She continues to amaze us with her insights, sparkling wit and perspectives on life.
Dee's Comments: A nice rest the day before yesterday, taking our time over lunch at our favorite place, L'Hirondelle, adjacent to the covered market (which was not open today). We enjoyed perfectly-cooked steaks, with pureed potatoes that had bits of carrots and leeks in them; yummy! After lunch, we went into a nice grocery store nearby, where I found some items we needed.
Today we visited the beautiful château, Vaux-le-Vicomte, as Mitchell describes in today's blog. During the 45-minute-drive to reach the château, Serge kept us laughing, while sharing his knowledge of life in Paris. After we arrived at the château, we rode in a golf cart around the beautiful gardens of this magnificent estate.
Our time may be running out...but we'll always have Paris! Our hostess, Dominique, has a wealth of knowledge, and I will truly miss her when she goes to the hospital for hip surgery in a few days. And I will sorely miss our rose garden
Fountain
Vaux-le-Vicomte outside the door of our cottage. Dominique left us with some words of wisdom today: "There is always a solution."
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Jeni
non-member comment
The château is impressive and massive. Having a golf cart to drive around and view the gardens was a great idea, ensures you didn’t miss anything. Loved you had a picnic in the shade of the gardens. What a great idea. Looks like a wonderful day. 😘