Saturday we decided to visit a smaller Chateaux Vaux Le Vitcomte originally built for Nicolas Fouquet from 1658 to 1661 by Louis Le Vau as architect, Andre Le Notre as landscape architect and Charles Le Brun as painter and decorator. This chateau was a break from the design of all buildings before it, and the 3 young men worked in harmony to produce one of the most envied modern chateaus in Europe at the time so much that King Louis XIV became jealous of the style and quality of the project. He had Fouquet arrested on some trumped up charges whilst on a visit to the chateau and decided he would claim some of Foquet's artworks and other goods as his own to start on a new chateau for himself. Louis claimed the services of the now famous three designers and started the upgrading of the Palace of Versailles in what is now known as Louis XIV style.

The Chateau is now privately owned and open to the public year round and is a truly beautiful piece of architecture in both the building and the gardens which have survived the centuries with apparently little change. The waterways are just gorgeous from the little waterfalls to ornamental ponds and the river which was diverted for the canals and enters and exits the chateau grounds with little sign of it ever being changed. The grounds are a smaller version of Versailles but apparently the original, with Versailles the copy albeit on a much larger and more opulent scale.

The Chateau's interior is lovely with the main circular dome at the rear of the building being full height which originally was the ballroom area. There are external doors leading from there which open out to large staired terraces with views over the beautiful gardens below. No wonder Louis was jealous of the chateau. It is to this day an astounding place to visit.

A twist in the tale has it that Nicolas Fouquet disappeared after his arrest and is thought to have been the legendary Man in the Iron Mask held in the French prisons for the whole of his life.