The Chateau that Ruined a Life

Touring Vaux-le-Vicomte - Inspiration for Versailles

Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Minister of Finance, built this chateau in the late 1550s. He hired the best architect, landscape designer and decorator in France to design for him the most sumptuous residence in the land. His ambition brought about his downfall, and the chateau was never completed.

Today you can visit the Grand Siècle, the luxurious seventeenth century, by touring the rooms and the gardens that became the inspiration for the palace of Versailles.

	When Fouquet's splendid residence was nearly completed, he threw a magnificent party and invited the young king, still in his twenties at the time. Louis XIV had made a vow that no one of his ministers would ever hold such wealth or power as to threaten his own. When he saw Fourquet's chateau and the extravagance of his entertaining, he would have arrested him on the spot but his mother advised him to wait. One month later, Fouquet was arrested. His trial was one of the most senstational events of the seventeenth century. He never saw his chateau again, but died in the prison he inhabited for the rest of his life. Louis XIV hired his architect, his garden designer and his decorator to begin the rebuilding of a family hunting lodge west of Paris in a small village called Versailles.
	A tour of Vaux begins at the impressive entrance gates, held by struggling giant figures called "Atlantes." The gift shop at the entrance is one of the nicest in northern France, and the stables house a museum of antique carriages and vehicles unparalled anywhere in the country. The gardens are typical of the formal gardens that define the French garden style and the elegant rooms of the Chateau have been restored and furnished according to the period in which it was built. A visit to the chateau is a visit to the world of Louis XIV and to the corridors of history.
	On Saturday evenings in the summer, the chateau and the gardens are lit with candles. Summer in the casual grill adjacent to the entrance and the gift shop is a comfortable beginning to an after-dark walk through the candlelit chateau. Summer concerts in the gardens are also a pleasant way to end a day of touring in the vicinity.

Pricing and Availability

$150 per person with a minimum of two persons.

Special Considerations or Preparations

Any special considerations regarding handicapped accessability, specialized needs for the location, weather preparation, things someone might want to know to be prepared for

Links to Related Tours

• Fontainebleau - The splendid renaissance palace of the Kings of France and its surrounding forest.
• Meaux - The old quarter and the cathedral offer an introduction to Louis XIV's famous political theorist and supporter, Bishop Bossuet..
• Barbizon - the painters' village on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau..