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| Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte |
Martine took me here today! From 1641 to 1661 Nicholas Fouquet, Superintendent of Finance to Louis the Fourteenth, had this estate built. On the night of 17 August 1661 Fouquet hosted a "lavish soirée" to honor the king at the new estate. However, Louis had already decided to get rid of Fouquet after being convinced that Fouquet was embezzling money. He was arrested three weeks later. Guess who arrested him? D'Artagnan, Captain of the King's Musketeers. Fouquet was at first banished but Louis intervened and had him imprisoned for life. Then, Louis had the Chateau de Versailles built on the same idea, but a much grander scale.
The design and fabrication of this place is amazing. It was designed on an axis that runs right through the middle of the house. All the gardens and grounds are symmetrical. You can see that in the photo below.
The site is on hilly ground. Instead of moving earth around to make everything flat, The planners created it with various steps or levels to give the illusion of a flat ground without moving earth, which would have been very costly.
The view below was taken from the tower on top of the chateau, which we climbed. The buildings you see are ... just the stables and carriage sheds. !!
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| Stables and carriage sheds of Vaux-le-Vicomte |
Comments
You're looking great, Annie!