Field Trip: Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

We’re going to: the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, a chateau so luxurious it inspired Versailles! 

The word is sumptuous — outside of Versailles, no castle is more opulent, or more famed, than the Chateaux de Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Is the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte Worth Visiting?

Yes. 

Chateaux de Vaux-le-Vicomte is such an incredible estate that it drove Louis XIV mad with jealousy — he was so jealous, in fact, that he imprisoned its owner.

If for whatever reason you don’t want to go to Versailles — due to its crowds, cost or location — this is a worthy substitution, nearly its equal in its beauty. The only thing it lacks is its main-character history (no Marie Antoinette here) and a single site as iconic as, say, the Hall of Mirrors. It’s also more of a trek than some of its competitors.

How to Get to the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte from Paris

It’s more complicated than some of the other chateaus near Paris, including the Chateau de Maisons and the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne. 

It’s easiest by car (about an hour), but accessible by public transport.

For the latter, you’ll:

• Take the RER line R train to Melun
• From Melun, take the every-30-minutes free shuttle to the chateau
• Or take bus 7701 four stops to RN36 and walk the last 1.5 miles (about 35 minutes)
• Or Uber/taxi to the chateau from the Melun station (taxis about €20)

Expect the whole trip to take close to two hours (about half that for travel by car, depending on Paris traffic.) If you want to cut travel time, the Chateau de Maisons is about 40 minutes from central Paris and Champs-sur-Marne about the same.

How Long Do You Need?

Given that you’ll like need between an hour and two to get here, you’ll want to spend the better part of the day. I’d recommend arriving soon after it opens, and planning to leave after lunch at the cheerful, self-serve restaurant, Le Relais de l’Ecureuil.

Best Time to Visit the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne

Literally whenever. 

The gardens are amazing, and well worth exploring in-season, but there’s so much to see inside that it holds up to a winter visit better than, say, the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne — especially at Christmastime (mid-November through early January), when the entire estate is decorated. If you like festive luxuries, this is a bucket-list experience.

Two other events figure prominently on the calendar: an egg hunt at Easter, and an array of historical experiences for “lovers of the 17th century” at the annual “Grand Siècle Day”, in late May: “horse-drawn carriage rides, musketeer shows, baroque dance demonstrations, a grand costumed parade, and a spectacular fireworks display”

Candlelit Evenings take place on summer Saturdays from mid-May until late September, as well as Fridays in late July and August. The fancier restaurant, Le Songe de Vaux, is only open during these special (and quite cool!) events.

In terms of day-to-day planning: Note that while the restaurant is open until 7 p.m., it only serves hot food during lunch (until 3 p.m.).

The Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte Vs. the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne Vs. Versailles

The real debate is whether to do Versailles, or not.

If your position is that you’d like to get as close as possible to Versailles, with fewer crowds, this is absolutely your choice.

It’s also bigger, more luxurious, and more central to history than the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne. (Noting that that Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne could still make sense if you just want to see a cool estate, don’t want to travel so far out of the city, and really want to avoid crowds.) It offers a much richer experience than the Chateau de Maisons, and the Chateau de Vincennes is a totally different kind of castle, though it’s competitive from the history perspective.

Because the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte is still a private estate, it has more flexibility than Versailles to offer special, commercially oriented events, such as Candlelit Evenings or the Christmastime decorations.

It’s a worthy alternative — it’s just never gonna be Marie Antoinette’s former home.

Three Must-Dos at the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte

• Candlelit Evenings sound incredibly cheesy but they’re actually extremely beautiful: 2000 candles! Fireworks! Just for us!
• The formal gardens, by Andre le Notre, are literally the model for Versailles. They might not be to everyone’s taste, but every garden lover should see a classical French garden, and this is an icon in the category.
• The ground floor interiors: sumptuous! Incredible! The paintings! The chandeliers! The unhesitating application of gold leaf!

A Bit About the History of the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte

Kings don’t like it when your stuff is better than their stuff.

And that, in a nutshell, Stuff, in this case, includes the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s Superintendent of Finances — a powerful post. He was also dedicated to the arts, and a keen spotter of ability and talent. He recruited architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter Charles Le Brun to collaborate for the first time on his chateau, to paradigm-shifting effect.

Like a 17th-century team of Avengers, the trio created the country’s most luxurious estate. Molière

The chateau’s first owner was Paul Poisson de Bourvallais, sent to the Bastille on accusations of financial embezzlement following the death of Louis XIV. Poisson offered it to the government to avoid the guillotine — and so, for many years after, the estate was traded like an engagement ring lost at poker: One early owner, the Princess of Conti, in fact, gave it to her cousin, the duc de La Vallière, as repayment for a debt. In 1739, he left it to his son — Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, according to Wikipedia, “a French nobleman, bibliophile and military man.” (One out of three isn’t bad.) He’s also the one responsible for commissioning the Salon Chinois in 1748, one of the mansion’s most beautiful rooms, with wall paintings by Christophe Huet — these show such activities as fishing and ostrich hunting. After building another chateau in Montrouge, he leased the Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne to Madame de Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV. (Can you believe these people?? Mistresses, princesses, and bibliophiles: The French are so French.)

So it went for quite a while, the estate passing between French aristocrats and mistresses, from “a rich shipowner” to Madame Isabelle de France, younger sister of Louis XVI. Then, the revolution, then a series of commercial transactions. Beginning in 1959, the estate was used as a residence for visiting heads of state for nearly a decade, primarily from independent, francophone nations in Africa, including Léopold Sédar Senghor, the president of Senegal (and poet).

The Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne, in About 10 Words:

The only thing it lacks is Marie Antoinette. Taking off a half-star because it’s hard to get to: 9.5 stars out of 10.

FAQ Recap: The Chateau de Vincennes

1. Is Château de Champs-sur-Marne worth visiting from Paris? Yes! But consider how you want to prioritize a more iconic site (Versailles) with the lower crowds (and cost) here.

2. How do you get to Château de Champs-sur-Marne from Paris by public transport? Basically the RER A.

3. How long does it take to visit Château de Champs-sur-Marne? It’s a very sturdy half-day trip.

4. When is the best time to visit Château de Champs-sur-Marne? Early morning, in the summer.

5. Is Château de Champs-sur-Marne a good alternative to Versailles? It can’t compete with Versailles’s best, and it is kitty-corner to history — not right at the heart of it, like Versailles. But if you want fewer crowds, it’s a great alternative.

6. What is there to see at Château de Champs-sur-Marne? I would prioritize the Salon Chinois and the garden!