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Vaux-le-Vicomte, springboard to Versailles
The poignant story of a crook who pushed his luck
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 - Nicolas Fouquet, 1615-1680
It is to the unscrupulousness, naïveté and superb taste of Nicolas Fouquet, the Sun King's first finance minister, that we owe the flowering of France's classic culture. When Fouquet gave an extravagant fête to honor Louis XIV (iAugust 21, 1661), the latter accused him of corruption, imprisoned him for life...
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 - Seizing Fouquet's treasures, tapestry
and took over the bouquet of artists who had created, as setting for the fête, a château and grounds of a new kind.
That allowed the take-off of the epoch's great art, of which Versailles is the ultimate expression.
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- The visit's most interesting aspect may not be the château's interior...
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 - Water, an immense luxury: ordinary Parisians lived on one liter a day, all needs included.
...but the sublime first expression of the landscaping we associate with France. Most striking innovation: the spectacular use of water from a nearby river. The astonished king grasped how to dramatize a château...
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• Full day, with our specialist, professor of architecture and landscaping history. Morning: Vaux, afternoon: Courances.
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• End of the afternoon stroll, after our countryside exploration
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• Costs: please CLICK. Remember the entry fee and lunch. An acceptable, though standardized, lunch is served in the château caféteria, but if you come during a weekend, a déjeuner à la ferme is better (and you see another aspect of France). |
Credits : Portrait / "Nicolas Fouquet", by Mignard, Museum of the château of Versailles; tapestry / chateau publication ; photo / Gilbert Cordier
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