Vaux Le Vicomte castle is certainly not as famous as Versailles…however it deserves a visit as much as Versailles does.  This is one of the most magnificent chateaus in France.

Located about 40 miles away from Paris (on your way to Burgundy), the whole estate reaches nearly 500 hectares. It was built by Nicolas Fouquet, Superintendent of Finances under young King Louis 14th.

A 17th century masterpiece, Vaux le Vicomte was the backdrop to many major historical events and witnessed the tragic eviction of its creator, Nicolas Fouquet, who was imprisoned following an extraordinary trial about which the writer Voltaire said: “On 17 August at 6 in the evening, Fouquet was King of France; at 2 in the morning, he was nobody” . Upon Louis 14th request, Fouquet was arrested in Nantes by D’Artagnan, captain of the Musketeers.

 

Vaux le Vicomte gardens also deserve a long stroll. To design the gardens, Fouquet called upon André le Nôtre who was the pioneer of French garden art. The perfect harmony between garden and architecture results from the collaboration of a trio : Le Nôtre the landscape gardener, Le Vau the architect and Le Brun the painter-decorator.

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Brigitte
We want to thank you and Guillaume for a wonderful itinerary and such amazing personalized attention. Every touch was added with so much special care and your willingness to answer all of my questions in such detail ahead of time was truly amazing. The guidebook and ‘care package’ you sent was so exciting and really helped us a lot with every day …
Liz & Bruce
We definitely experienced a new way of traveling : out-of-the-way places, local markets and quaint little restaurants. We met a lot of French people and other travelers and always had a great time ! We had already gone to France twice in the past, but thanks to Emily and Guilaume we rediscovered this fabulous country in a whole new way. We are …
Joey
We found France Just For You on Trip Advisor as we were beginning our plans to visit France. All of the TA reviews raved about quality of service and planning by Emilie so we decided to have Emilie plan our 3 week trip to France. Now we know why all the reviews of France Just For You are "excellent". We spent time in Paris, Dijon area, Loire Valley …
Teresa & Garry
Laura and Emilie started working with us to develop a trip in July of 2020, but the trip had to be postponed because of COVID. Nonetheless they kept everything in place and made some modifications so that the trip could take place this October and November. They were always responsive and helpful with our questions and concerns. All of the …
Beth & Jim
We are a couple that contacted Emilie at France Just For You and her responsiveness and services were excellent. She and her husband listened very carefully to our stated interests and followed up with us in a very personal way. As independent travelers who work, we did not have time to fully plan a trip to the Dordogne region of France which was …
Janis
We are experienced travelers and spent about three weeks traveling the french countryside via Emilie’s arrangements. Her personalized guidebook provided everything we could have asked for and, when some unexpected issues came up, Emilie promptly responded with kind, thoughtful assistance. We spent days with detailed driving tours, truffle hunting …