A Jewel in the Crown

Of all the chateaux I have visited here in France, the one I love the best lies at the end of this classic "allée" of lime trees in Maincy, near Melun, about 55 kilometers southeast of Paris. Matthew and I were there many years ago, and when my brother came over from England for a few days recently, I took the chance to revisit this gem, known, simply, as Vaux-le-Vicomte.

The property, then just a minor fief, was bought in 1641 by this gentleman,  Nicolas Fouquet, at the time a rising star in the French government. By 1657, he was Louis XIV's Superintendent of Finances, was a big patron of the arts, known for his generosity, and also known for his ambition.
He used these traits to bring together, for the first time, three of the most influential designers of the 17th century: the architect, Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect, André Le Nôtre, and the painter-decorator, Charles Le Brun. In renovating Fouquet's chateau and gardens, this trio created what became known as the "Louis XIV style", that inspired Europe for more than a hundred years.

The chateau sits on a north-south axis, with its elevations symmetrical to this axis. The interior of the castle is, similarly, almost symmetrical, balanced around the central Grand Salon.

With its delicately painted ceiling, this lovely, double-storey, oval-shaped Salon faces out into the garden, the upper and lower windows filling the space with light. Le Vau took the idea of its shape from studying drawings and engravings of Italian buildings, incorporating them into Vaux-le-Vicomte. Together with the vestibule on the north side of the building, these two rooms were originally an open air loggia, and still have the feel of an "outdoor" setting.

On either side of the Grand Salon, other rooms reflect the arc of history and style. In "La Chambre des Muses", the walls and ceiling are adorned with paintings and tapestries of muses...

...with the center ceiling painting showing the Muse of History, after whom our adorable grand daughter is named: Clio!

Monsieur Fouquet spared no expense on the fittings and furnishings of his chateau. This elegant desk in the library commanded center stage of an already beautiful room...

...whilst the Salon de Hercules gave M. Fouquet a chance to show his impressive collection of bronzes...

...and in the dining room, a video in the mirror reveals ballroom dancers in full 17th century attire!

The most lavish room on the ground floor was created especially for Louis XIV himself, a King's Bedroom where Louis would sleep when he came to visit the chateau.

In contrast, the upstairs rooms are smaller but always in proportion to the scale of the building. Nicolas Fouquet's bedroom, glowed with a red velvet canopy bed, flanked by Gobelin Tapestries. It was so inviting, I wanted to climb up and snuggle down under the covers!

The designs for these tapestries were, again, by Charles Le Brun.

Not to be outdone, Madame Fouquet's salon showed exquisite tilework, wall treatments and a beautiful oriental cabinet.

In the lower levels, a vast kitchen spoke volumes of the banquets and feasts Nicolas Fouquet planned to host. His chef and maître d'hôtel, was none other than François Vatel, renowned for his cuisine.

With an array of copper cookware like this, it would be hard not to produce incredible dinners -- one pot for almost every need!

From inside the Grand Salon, the windows look onto the gardens, stretching out over a mile and a half, all the way to a statue of Hercules in the far distance, that marks the limit of the "formal" layout. Using the laws of perspective to create this magnificent view, André Le Nôtre installed water basins and canals, fountains, gravel walks and pattenered parterres that became the classic, formal French garden.

He placed the canal at the lowest part of the terrain, so it is not visible from the upper levels. It takes a leisurely stroll (or a gentle ride in a golf cart for those of us with arthritic limbs!) to traverse the pathways and "discover" the basins and canals. 

Looking back from the lowest level, you can see how the gently rising ground gradually moves your eye upward, back to the splendor of Louis Le Vau's building, which has been described as "a true model of harmony between architecture and landscape."

At last, the work was all complete. On August 17, 1661, Fouquet invited the King and Court to a lavish fête to inaugurate his chateau. Molière's play "Les Facheux" was premiered in the gardens, François Vatel served a sumptuous dinner, there was music and a dazzling, enchanting firework display.  It should have been the greatest triumph of Fouquet's life.

However, this gentleman had other ideas! Jean-Baptiste Colbert was Mazarin's private secretary. It was Mazarin who had appointed Fouquet as Superintendent of Finances. Jealous of Fouquet's success, Colbert began to plot against him, insinuating to the King that Fouquet was financing the work on Vaux-le-Vicomte by embezzling funds from the State Treasury (in fact, it was Mazarin who was the guilty party).  The lavish gala inauguration was the last straw. It was all too impressive, too luxurious.  Three weeks later, Fouquet was arrested, charged with misappropriation of public funds. Deemed guilty, he was initially banished from France. Louis, however, was still not satisfied. Fouquet's sentence was changed to life imprisonment. He was incarcerated in Pignerol, where he died on March 23rd, 1680.

Voltaire famously wrote: "On 17 August, at six in the evening Fouquet was the King of France: at two in the morning he was nobody." 

Following Fouquet's arrest, Vaux-le-Vicomte was closed down, most of its furnishings and treasures seized by the King. Louis also took the three creative geniuses behind the chateau:  Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre with him, and instructed them to build him something even bigger and grander. In May, 1682, Versailles was completed!

Madame Fouquet continued to live at Vaux-le-Vicomte until 1705, when she sold it to a Marshal de Villiers. The estate changed hands several times, before falling into disrepair, forgotten and abandoned.

Happily for Nicolas Fouquet's legacy (and for the rest of us!), this gentleman appeared in 1875: Alfred Sommier. An industrialist and art lover, he was also an enthusiast for history and architecture. He bought the chateau, and began the long years of restoration of both the buildings and the gardens. Today, his direct descendants continue the work he began 140 years ago.

Perhaps it's the human drama of triumph, tragedy and betrayal that makes this beautiful spot so appealing to me. Certainly, that's part of it. Over and above all that, though, I just love how balanced it all is, the buildings in scale with the gardens and the whole sheltered within a forest of glorious mature trees. Somewhere, Nicolas Fouquet is smiling!

À bientôt!

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