Garden Party at Vaux le Vicomte {Look Around}

Who would have thought French châteaux had changed so much? My memories of Vaux le Vicomte go back to my early childhood spent in France, when my parents took  me with them to visit the country from one border to the other. They were right in doing so, I still remember many of the visits we did together.

Museums and castles in general have had to adapt to their new targets and modern taste: nobody wants to wander through and empty garden left to its own devices, let alone walk through corridors and rooms veiled in dust, only dreaming to breathe fresh air somewhere else. Some visitors cannot walk for hours on end from one fountain to the other, one aisle to the other. If you want to include them in your target list, you'd better come up with new ideas, reschedule, refresh and go live! 

Summer is the perfect season to discover the revival of their gardens too. At Vaux le Vicomte this afternoon many visitors are strolling around, while an all white wedding dinner is being staged right under the benevolent eyes of the majestic 17th century castle. There is definitely a pattern here with weddings and white table settings... Candles are being lit, the waiters joke with us... Majestic, but not intimidating. Maybe that is why king Louis XIV disapproved of it: its fine baroque lines make it stand out as a castle out of its league - elegant, welcoming, sumptuous and... full of promises of political power and competition supposedly embodying Nicolas Fouquet's - the owner of the castle - ambitions. 

The garden is alive: it vibrates to the sound of opera music, people are lounging in deck chairs by the main bassin, some of them meet here, not to visit the premises, but only to spend some time sitting on the brink of the bassin and counting the carps. Some visitors prefer sitting under the wide parasols, others drive around while the rest of the party drinks champagne at the back of the golf cart. It is cocktail hour, apéritif time. And Vaux le Vicomte is not letting this fine summer hour slip through its fingers unnoticed. The garden party begins among elegant statues that step down from their pedestals to enjoy the garden party spirit in true #summerdreams style.

Credits: TheDaydreamer