When I asked multiple people their favorite parts of Paris, all responded Vaux-le-Vicomte. What is Vaux-le-Vicomte you ask? The most amazing place you will ever visit. It is situated in the Parisian countryside out of the line of tourists. Louis XIV's finance minister Nicolas Fouquet built it in the 17th century and it became the inspiration for Versailles. Louis XIV commissioned the architect, the landscape architect, and the interior designer to build Versailles. I'll let you read the history and the intrigue behind Fouquet's arrest and life imprisonment.
Getting to Vaux-le-Vicomte took a bit of planning. We had to take the train from Paris to the small town of Melun. Then get a taxi to drive us to the estate. Since we all couldn't fit into one taxi, we decided that a French speaker should be with each car. Kathrine and my parents went in front of us and Robin and I waited for the second one. We waited. And waited. A Frenchman took our first car because he HAD to get to a doctor's appointment. We didn't argue with him. A German was also going to the chateau so we invited him to ride with us so we could split the fare. Our taxi finally arrived and we were off! Literally! The taxi was a Mercedes and he cruised along as fast as he could. It was quite thrilling actually. Speeding along the French countryside.
As you can see from the pictures, Vaux-le-Vicomte is beautiful! Absolutely breathtaking! And the gardens were even more so. I loved it. Plus, did you see all the tourists in the pictures? Me either! I loved having the whole place to ourselves. The house is in the process of being restored so many of the rooms were unfurnished. We were able to walk through the entire house, including the cupola and the kitchen. They interweaved the story of the Man in the Iron Mask through some of the house which was kind of fun.
After our adventure, we headed back to town. We called two taxis to come pick us up. One immediately came and took my parents, Kathrine, and our German counterpart. When ours arrived, some pushy Americans claimed it as their own. We finally had to go back to the visitors booth and have them call us another taxi. Frustrating but I was in France so it didn't matter.
Once back in town, we loaded up on pastries and headed back to Paris. Tonight we tried to eat at the place my friend recommended. This time we showed up an hour early. Giving up, we found a Greek place that was quick and easy. After dinner, we took one more stroll along the Seine and enjoyed watching the boats and other tourists. We decided we still had time for a stroll down the Champs-Elysees. I'm so glad we did! We found a shop selling caramel macarons. Oh. My. Goodness. They were amazing! I would go back to Paris just to have another caramel macaron.
It had been a long day and long week so we headed back to the hotel. After packing up and resting, the girls decided to hit the Trocadéro and enjoy the ambiance of the Eiffel Tower. I am so glad we stayed close to the Eiffel Tower. It really was a great place for a great price. If you are heading to Paris anytime soon, let me know and I'll give you the name of the place. We said one more good-bye and headed back to the hotel for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment