Vaux-le-Vicomte, France 🇫🇷 2023

Date: 23rd June 2023

Travelled: 15 kms from Melun to Vaux-le-Vicomte  

Visited: Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte  

Stayed: Port Du Roy Aire. €11, N48.53550, E02.55410  

Budget: 32 days @ €100 per day

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We shared the aire with 3-4 other campers, enjoying a quiet evening other than a little duff duff in the distance somewhere. Up reasonable early we walk the paths linking the Seine with a number of recreational lakes that make up this park. We hear the rubble of the occasional barge making its way along Seine during our walk but it’s not as busy as the Rhine.

So we pack up and make ready for the road, set the GPS for Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. It’s an easy 15 kms with double that number of round-a-bouts. Soon enough we turn into a long tree line boulevard leading to the château. I’ve had a marker on Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in Google for a couple of years after seeing it highlighted on some TV program.

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As it’s only just opening time we skip the first couple of carparks and turn into a tree shaded area near the gates.

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte was built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV. To create his dream Fouquet demolished three nearby villages and set 18,000 workers to the project. It’s not a particularly romantic story as Fouquet would be sent to jail for life by Louis XIV for fraud or as the rumours suggested out of jealousy over Vaux-le-Vicomte.

As the story goes the King stripped the château of its artwork, then used its architect and landscape designer to create the Palace of Versailles some years later.

Anyway our visit commences after paying €12 pp.

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The young lady selling the tickets tells us there’s is an extensive delay to visit the château due to the number of school groups waiting to enter. Undeterred Pam pushes to the front of the queue telling the security guard she’s with the band. We skip passed the kids and straight into our tour. The audio guide is the best we’ve experienced.

A reminder you can click on any of the photos and a gallery in full screen will open.

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Pam loves to travel and she loves adventure. Nothing better than a tight spiral staircase to the top of the dome and Vaux-le-Vicomte‘s viewing platform. Access to the dome an extra €5 pp. The views are spectacular and almost worth the extra expense.

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After many years of neglect the château was sold to Alfred Sommire in 1875, having been restored over many years the château is still privately owned by the Sommier family.

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Our visit to the château concludes with a walk along the canal and the gardens.

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So that was our day at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, another one off the bucket list. Within 30 minutes we’re back at the aire Port de Roy, leftovers for dinner tonight luckily as where both very tired.

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Michael + Pam