Well, this was the third château in the area I had wanted to see before we left, and I think we saved the best to last.

Mick had complained a little, because the ‘event’ was to end late for us, around 11.30pm. But we had read, and we had been told by our hosts, that the candle-lit castle and fireworks, which are held on Saturday evenings during the summer, were amazing.

And, it was. Although, I ‘borrowed’ the next image as my phone camera did not do it justice.

Mick and I headed off around 4.30pm with a picnic packed in a backpack, and a bottle of chilled rosé as well. Unlike the Château de Courances we visited last month, this château is happy for visitors to bring a picnic, even though it houses several restaurants, including this fancy-looking one here on the left.

At 5.15pm the castle was closed to visitors, and for the next two hours, dozens of staff lit candles throughout the palace and the gardens. Mick and I spent some of this time wandering around the majestic styled gardens, but definitely did not cover the 33 hectares we had read about.

From this huge statue of Hercules (on the left) you could get a great view back towards the château. The sculpture on the right was located in one of the 20 working pools in the garden. We are talking MASSIVE!!

The history behind this château and its gardens is fascinating.

In a nutshell…

The current château was built by Nicolas Fouquet, a young intelligent man who at 26 years old (in 1641) bought some land (90 hectares, and eventually built it up to what it is now – 500 hectares) and an existing small castle. He then employed the best garden designer, the best architect and the best painter and decorator, and had them create a masterpiece. It took them around 20 years (1661) to achieve the end product.

During this time, Nicolas was working for Louis XIV. He held the position of Superintendent of Finance from 1653 until Louis decided to abolish the position and take the control himself in 1661.

Enter a very jealous character who wanted Nicolas‘ job and his fancy château – Jean-Baptist Colbert.

John-Baptist started spreading rumours and making false allegations claiming Nicolas had embezzled Louis‘ money. Eventually, Louis believed him. (Actually the money had been stolen, but not by Nicolas, rather by Nicolas‘ predecessor and boss, Cardinal Mazarin who was now dead).

Now, 1661 could be considered Nicolas Fouquet’s “annus horribilis”.

His château was finished and looking stunning, so he decided to hold a soirée in honour of Louis XIV on 17 August 1661.

Louis by this time had already decided to have Nicolas arrested, but he was not going to spoil a good party. Louis walked through the French formal gardens, which soon became the dream of every European monarch and wealthy figure of the time. He enjoyed a lavish meal and a theatrical performance in his honour, with the evening concluding like Mick’s and mine did on our visit, with fireworks.

Voltaire later wrote….

“On August 17, at six in the evening Fouquet was King of France, at two in the morning, he was nobody.”

Three weeks later, Nicolas was arrested by the captain of the king’s musketeers – d’Artagnan.

Shortly after Nicolas‘ arrest, Louis XIV brought together the same three artists who created Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, and had them design the Palace of Versailles. Louis was not going to be outdone!!

Nicolas Fouquet died in prison in 1680.

Of course, there is more to the history and if you are interested you can read this.

Mick and I went on two tours of the château – one before the candles and one afterwards, the second time with an excellent audio presentation.  The rooms and the furniture were amazing.

Many of the ceilings were painted as well.

While we waited for the sun to disappear so we could get a good view of the candle lighting, Mick discovered he was actually enjoying himself.

One of his favourite movies is “Yellowbeard” – and he knows many of the quotes off-by-heart. I assure you the next shot was staged, and he was only pretending, but it fits the quote from the movie when Lady Lambourne says..

“Stop that man pissin’ on the hedge. It’s imported!”

There was a dance floor set up in the garden, and 17th Century music was being played through some well-hidden speakers. Later in the evening, several couples did take to the floor and demonstrated what good dancing can look like. But, Mick didn’t think he had had enough to drink to get up and have a go.

Finally, I knew it was time to go because Mick decided to ‘photo bomb’ a young woman who was having her girlfriend take some photos of her while she posed with the château as her back drop. People sitting near her and us were being very polite, and ignored her many ‘styled’ poses. But, it became too much for Mick.

Luckily, it was not only the other visitors that could see the funny side to it. She packed up!!

And, so did we! It was time to go – somehow the drive home seemed longer than the drive there. But, we had a wonderful evening.