I’m a former jaded New Yorker who is now becoming a jaded Parisian. I found something that stopped me dead in my tracks from becoming a jaded Parisian.
On Saturday night, a carload of my friends and I got adventurous and ventured 45 minutes out of Paris to the Vaux Vicomte. The Vaux Vicomte is a lavish chateau built by Nicolas Fouqet in 1661. It was the finest chateau and garden in France of its time and was the setting for one of the most famous fetes of the 17th century.The famous fete became the undoing of Fouquet and he was imprisoned right after the fete and remained until his death. Fouquet was a patron of the arts and Moliere, Madame de Sevigne, and La Fontaine were frequent guests.
The drive was a re-creation of a middle America drive with acres of flat, boring farmland and hamlets of fast food restaurants and cheap chain hotels. My romantic notions of France being so different than the U.S. started to disappear. As we were driving in this wasteland, I couldn’t believe a 17th century grand chateau was anywhere in the vicinity. As we turned off to the narrow road with its arc of tall trees where the chateau was, I was now convinced we were coming upon something special. As we arrived, my heart stopped for a moment: in front of me was this fairy tale castle lit up by thousands of candles.
We toured inside first with dark,romantic rooms dripping with candles. As I explored the splendid interiors with hand-painted ceilings, rich tapestries, and regal furniture, I was anxious to return to the outside and the gardens.
Once outside, we settled on a stone bench in a perfect spot with a gorgeous view of the back of the chateau and the gardens.The formal gardens designed by Le Notre, are almost a duplicate of Versailles, although these were built first. We strolled to the Champagne bar located in chic white tents perched on the top tier of the grounds. We sat on white canvas lawn chairs sipping our champagne. The crisp night air, the unusual shaped moon beaming, and the chateau with the glow of candlelight made for an unforgettable evening.
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