Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte stands in the commune of Maincy, in the Seine-et-Marne department about 55 kilometres south-east of Paris, near Melun. It was built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's superintendent of finances, by the architect Louis Le Vau, the painter Charles Le Brun and the landscape designer André Le Nôtre, a collaboration that became the model for Versailles. After an extravagant housewarming party in August 1661, Fouquet was arrested on the king's orders, and the same team went on to build Versailles. The château remains privately owned by the Vaux family descendants. Visitors tour the grand salons, the Chambre du Roi, the Salon des Muses with its painted ceilings, and the vaulted kitchens and cellars, which show how a great household worked. The dome, visible from the garden, can be climbed for a view over the grounds. The gardens cover around 33 hectares and are laid out along a main axis with parterres, fountains, a Grand Canal, and the Belvedere and statue of Hercules at the far end, designed so that features appear or vanish as the visitor walks. Water features are activated on select Saturday afternoons. A visit lasts three to five hours. The château draws crowds on weekends and in summer, while weekday mornings are calmer. Candlelit evenings on Saturdays from May to October light the château and gardens with thousands of candles, and are the signature experience. Golf carts can be hired to tour the grounds, and a restaurant and tea room are on site. The estate was bought in 1875 by Alfred Sommier, a sugar industrialist, who saved it from ruin and restored it, and his descendants continue to own and manage it as a private heritage site funded largely by visitor income. The squirrel, Fouquet's emblem, appears throughout the decoration, and a small museum of carriages in the stables displays horse-drawn vehicles. Refreshments are available at the restaurant and the self-service café near the entrance.