Vaux Le Vicomte

Our final 'voyage de jour' from Paris will be to the Chateau de Vaux Le Vicomte...

Originally a small estate, Vaux le Vicomte was purchased in 1641 by Nicholas Fouquet, the finance minister for Louis XIV. In 1657, Fouquet commissioned the best of France to redesign the estate into a chateau with gardens unparalleled by any at the time. Louis Le Vau (the classical architect later responsible for re-designing Versailles), Charles Le Brun (the artist declared by Louis XIV to be the greatest French artist of all time and Andre La Notre (the landscape architect who later designed the gardens at Versailles) all collaborated for four years to create one of the most lavish of all the French chateaux.

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Fouquet, wanting to show off his grand new home and gardens, threw a party in 1861 and invited his boss, the Sun King. It probably isn't such a great idea to brag to your boss, the king, that your house is bigger than his (at that time Versailles was still a relatively modest hunting lodge). The next day Fouquet was arrested for misappropriation of funds and exiled for life. Shortly thereafter, Le Vau, Le Brun and La Notre began a new project together - at Versailles!

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Below the current owner of the Chateau de Vaux Le Vicomte, Patrice La Vogue, describes the estate which has been in his family for several generations and which he decided to open to the public in 1968:

If you are not able to view the video, click here.

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If you are visiting Paris in the summer, make sure you visit on one of the Saturday evenings in the summer when the entire chateau and gardens are illuminated by thousands of candles.

Tree Tunnel at Vaux le Vicomte
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Things to Remember:

This is our only day trip that is difficult to get to via public transportation, particularly if you go for one of the candlelight evenings in the summer. Since 'le fete' goes on late into the evening, a return trip to Paris by train is difficult. I would recommend renting a car and driving the 35 miles, or taking one of the tours offered through Paris Vision.

Vaux le Vicomte is open daily from mid March to mid November and on weekends in December. For more information on hours go here.

For more information on special events, go here.

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That wraps up my week of 'voyages d'un jour' from Paris...I know I left out the most popular day trip of all, Versailles. I did that intentionally - it is a wonderful place to visit but most anyone who has visited Paris has also visited Versailles. I was hoping to present some trips that would offer alternatives for those who are looking for something a little different.

If you missed my other 'voyages', we have gone to Chartres, Chantilly, Giverny and Fontainebleau earlier this week.

Tomorrow, I will be doing a round up of my favorite posts by other bloggers from this incredible week of "France: Simply Irresistible" sponsored by Anita from Castles Crowns and Cottages. Do go check out everyone else's posts - each one is unique and they are all delightful.