A Christmas trip to Vaux-le-Vicomte: the loveliest chateau in France
A magical family trip to the chateau that inspired Versailles.
Today on the podcast I take you to the magnificent Vaux-le-Vicomte chateau. It is, without a doubt, my favourite chateau in France.
We travelled as two families, and we were guided by Bertrand d’Aleman from My Private Paris. And we even had a quick chat with the chateau owner Jean Charles de Vogüé (you can hear him on the podcast too!) And we all wore crimson capes. More on that later. Look, there’s Bertrand and I below with our capes (left), and chatting with Jean Charles in the other two pics.
And did I mention: The chateau does Christmas like no one else I’ve ever seen. Here is a collection of our photos from inside, where each room has been transformed into Christmas-themed fairytales (more on this further down).
The podcast episode
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What is Vaux-le-Vicomte?
The chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte is breathtaking and frequently overlooked for the chateau of Versailles. In fact, Vaux-le-Vicomte served as inspiration for Versailles, such is its beauty. Around 50 km south east of Paris, it’s used regularly as a film set, so you might recognise it from films like James Bond’s Moonraker, The Man with The Iron Mask, and ironically, the TV series Versailles. It is equally famous for its Christmas festival, which made our visit even more special. We previously visited back in 2021.
Why visit the chateau?
With an impressive approach and dramatic moat, Vaux-le-Vicomte (or Vaux, as the locals call it) ticks many boxes. But, with a fraction of the visitors compared to Versailles, it’s much calmer. It’s the result of a combination of efforts by an almost celebrity list of experts: architect Louis le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun and landscape gardener André Le Nôtre - all of whom went on to make Versailles after.
What to see?
The gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte are as famous and spectacular as the chateau itself. For those who want to rest their legs, you can hire carts to travel around the gardens and see as much as possible.
Within the walls of the chateau, you can see the historically preserved rooms that take you back to life in the 17th century, but the pièce de resistance is the dome at the top of the building, which has the best view of the entire property.
Last time we visited in 2021, the Grand Salon ceiling was under construction. Here’s what it looked like then:
An enchanted Christmas
But during out visit last week, it was Christmas on steroids. In fact, I’d wager that Vaux-le-Vicomte is the best fairytale place in France to enjoy an enchanted Christmas adventure.
So, we donned our red velvet capes (they were handing them out at the entrance) and we stepped into this winter wonderland. And, honestly, the word magical cannot fully describe the experience we had.
This chateau, which is magnificent on any day of the year, has been utterly spellbound. Many of the rooms had the theme of a specific fairytale - Cinderella, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, as well as the Christmas classic, The Nutcracker. The pièce de résistance was a 30 foot crimson Christmas tree, immersed in the centre of a breath-taking forest projection.
How to get there?
We were doing a private tour, meaning a car picked us up from Paris and took us door to door, courtesy of My Private Paris. If you take their excellent tour, you can add Fontainebleau and its chateau to the trip for a full day trip. If you want to make your own way to Vaux:
Take the RER R train to Melun from Gare de Lyon (it is a 30-minute direct train).
Then take the Chateaubus shuttle from Melun station which runs every day from 30 March. Or take a 10-minute taxi to the chateau.
This whole season of The Earful Tower is brought to you by the award-winning travel company My Private Paris, which specialises in tours in Paris, day trips outside Paris, and travel itineraries. See what they offer here.
For Earful members
Lastly, if you’re an Earful Tower Patreon supporter, here’s the link to see the replays of the two live videos I did at the chateau in the summer of 2021. The first was a long stroll with owner Jean Charles through the gardens, he even turned on the fountains for us (and his pet dogs who joined us for the walk).
The second video features an exclusive look inside all the rooms of the chateau without another soul in sight, with Jean Charles explaining it all and even revealing a family secret on one of the tapestries 🙂 Sign up here for the replays (and all the other bonus content!)
And double bonus: I released a Christmas podcast episode for members, yesterday! And you can now gift both Substack and Patreon memberships!
If you’re a Substack member, tomorrow I’ll mail you links to the two videos mentioned above, and the new podcast episode.
That’ll do for now! Hope you can make it to Vaux on your next trip to Paris!
Absolutely love the red capes!