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
Annette & Kids
I was very nervous to visit a country that I have never learned the language spoken so that is the reason I wanted someone to help me plan this trip with my children. Emilie was wonderful. The B&Bs that she booked were some of the very best places I have ever stayed and I have traveled quite a bit. The cell phone that we were given was priceless …
Candy
Wherever possible we prefer to travel on our own as opposed to going on a tour package. With France - Just For You, they arranged for a vehicle and booked us into a couple of lovely B&B’s and a great Boutique Hotel in Paris and booked a couple of activities that we were interested in. Besides that, they put together a book for us with everything we …
Ellen & Ray
This was the best trip to France we have ever been on! It was the second trip that Emilie and Laura at France Just for You set up for us. The first was a trip around Provence, which we loved so much that we asked them to set up our second trip to the Loire Valley, Normandy, and Paris. Both trips were tailored to our interests - food, wine, art …
Joel
We highly recommend Emilie’s services. She put together an excellent itinerary. She made all the arrangements and the guides she retained for us where top notch. The B&B accommodations were very good, the hosts were terrific and we enjoyed the other travelers we met at breakfast. We did two table d'hote dinners which were excellent and her …
Debbie
Emilie is amazing. Going to Normandy has always been a dream of my husbands and luckily for us we found Emilie to plan our trip. Our hotel in Paris for the start of our trip was located perfectly. Within walking distance of so much for our first two days before we picked up the rental car she had arranged for us. Then onto Normandy and the Loire …
Don
We heard about Emilie from a friend who used her travel services twice. They spoke so highly of her we figured we had to visit France just to meet her. We traveled to the Loire Valley with another couple and she interviewed us separately to understand what we wanted to see and do and what we didn’t want to do. As a result, she designed a perfect …