Sunday, June 17, 2012
Vaux le Vicomte
Bonjour!
Awoke to find a strange gold thing in the sky and realized it was the Sun! What a day to make an appearance--the one we'd earmarked for a trip into the country--well almost! Merlun is 45 minutes away from Paris--presque campagna! We rejoiced in the unfamiliar sighting!
Hasty awakening, hasty brekkie (Jordans Cereal with Yogurt and honey), hasty everything, so I could get out the door by 7.45 in time to meet my friend Jen at the Denfert-Rochereau metro platform at 8.00am. I arrived there with several minutes to spare to find Jen (Professor at University of Iowa) just about to get comfortable on a platform seat. Off we went on the metro to Gare de Lyon where I picked up a ticket to Merlun (14.40 euros, aller-retour which is French for round-trip) and on the platform of the SNCF train, we were joined by a third colleague, Leah (Professor at Amherset College in Massachusetts). We made a happy threesome as we boarded the train and sailed away into the sunlight.
Just as I was getting comfortable (my eyes closing gently for a nap!), we arrived at Merlun in time to board the 'Chateaubus' that is timed to meet two trains from Paris at the weekend. 3.50 euros later, we were on the bus and off to the chateau past the small village of Merlun, across the Seine, and along a lovely narrow poplar tree-lined road that led straight to the Chateau.
The Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte:
For a first time visitor to Paris, Versailles, the Palace of the Bourbon Dynasty, is the highlight of a trip. For seasoned visitors to Paris (such as the three of us), Vaux beckons because it is the exact precursor to Versailles.
So here's the story: The Sun King (Louis XIV) had a Minister of Finance called Nicholas Fouquet who made a bundle of money and decided to build himself a grand chateau. He hired the finest Threesome in the land to accomplish his objectives: The Architect Le Vau, the Artist and Interior Decorator Le Brun and the Landscape Garden Designer Le Notre. Together, they created a masterpiece, much to Fouquet's delight. At the Opening Ceremony, which Le Roi Soleil attended, he was bitten by the Green Monster. Historical accounts are divided about whether he was just jealous that his Premiere Ministre had a house better than his or that he felt sidelined at the Ceremony. Whatever. He became jealous, period. (Shades of another murderous monarch that I can recall across the Channel who visited Hampton Court Palace, was seized with jealousy, threw his upstart Cardinal--Wolsey--in prison, seized his properties and made the Palace his own). Unlike Henry VIII in England, however, Louis XIV did not seize Fouquet's Chateau (which is a good thing because had he done so, we'd never have had Versailles). Instead, he threw poor Fouquet in prison on trumped-up charges (no doubt) where he was confined until his death in 1680. And Louis? Well, he summoned the Threesome (Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre) and commanded them to build him a place that would outshine Vaux a million times over. The result? Well...Versailles. Ta Da!
So back to Vaux: We could not have summoned the sun to shine more gloriously today if we could! It was simply splendid. We paid our16 euros entrance fee and found ourselves in the side buildings that housed the equestrian accoutrements of the times--equipage (carriages), horses and the living quarters of the grooms and syces. Making our way past extensive courtyards, we arrived at the Visitors Entrance (which is the Back Facade of the chateau). Our entire visit was marred by the extensive renovation in progress--from the Dome (its most impressive architectural feature which is completely hidden by scaffolding) to a vast section of the rooms which were out of bounds to the public as they are in an obviously decrepit state.My advice to anyone planning a visit? Wait, if you can, for three years, and go when the entire renovation is complete. Or, if you are on a first-time visit to Paris, just go to Versailles!
What we did see at Vaux were a series of initial rooms meant for Nicholas Fouquet, filled with engraved portraits of himself and his family tree. Some interesting items of furniture such as a solid armoire and a cabinet catch the eye. As the tour wound its way through the more public rooms, they grew increasingly more magnificent. These rooms have obviously been recently restored for the decoration on the ceiling (outstanding paintings by Charles Le Brun) look as fresh as the day the paint dried. In one of the rooms, the ceiling is as breathtaking as that of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel--although its scale is much smaller. Splendid furniture (Boule cabinets and writing desks thickly embellished with ormulu accents), rock crystal chandeliers and an absolute eyeful of painted walls are jaw dropping. On to the King's and Queen's rooms (because it was customary, in every castle built by civilians, to reserve a suite of rooms in case the king happened to be passing by and needed a roof over his royal head), which were so fabulous as to beggar description. The ceiling decoration got so ornate that the cherubs and fairies painted on them and lavishly gilded grew three-dimensional as they popped right off the walls--simply astounding! The piece de resistance was a Dining-cum-Ballroom filled with tapestries, the table laid with a grand Oriental carpet, towers of pastel macarons waiting to be sampled, the room lit only by candlelight (as it would have been in the 17th and 18th centuries) and a lovely touch--a film projected on the wall that showed 18th centuries courtiers and their ladies at a ball, all filmed in the same room. It was an ingenious way to end the tour of the upper storey.
We then wended our way down to the basement where we entered the portion occupied by the servants: the dining room and the vast kitchens which have been brilliantly re-furbished with furniture true to the period, loads of copper vessels and cookware and wax models of kitchen staff. This led to a special exhibition on the landscape gardening works of Andre Le Notre who ended up designing all the well-known public gardens in Paris (including the Jardin de Tuileries and those on the Champs-Elysses). An interesting exhibit was his coat of arms: having come from a humble background, he did not have one, but when permitted the creation of one, he chose a shield with a crumbly brown background (to suggest soil) with three snails ambling across, all topped by a large head of green cabbage! It is a hilarious touch and an indication of his huge sense of humor and perhaps a satire also on courtly grandiosity.
Lunch at L'Ecrueil:
It was almost lunch time and our tummies beckoned. Although we had planned ot have a pique-nique on the lawns, we were thwarted, as any picnicking on the property is strictly interdit (prohibited). The cafe-restaurant called L'Ecrueil (The Squirrel) proved to be a good alternative; so, ironically, with our bags bulging with food, we sat down and ate of the chef's offering: salads (I chose a plate of charcuterie with greens) with wine, desserts (Ile Flottantes, Strawberry Tart, Choux Pastry Filled with Chantilly Cream) and feasted like the queens of yore. It was simply lovely to just sit under a sun parapluie and watch the happy faces of people basking in the summer warmth.
Strolling in Le Notre's Gardens:
Lunch provided sustenance and a welcome rest for my weary feet. It was time to tackle Le Notre's vast gardens and we began at the side gardens, past the moat. Vaux is unique in that it has a moat--Versailles does not (simply because Le Notre found a dry patch of land there with little opportunity to create water features). Past the beautiful flowered parterre we went, past the animal statuary (pairs of lions and tigers at play)--all in a dreadful state and badly needing cleaning and restoration--past the flight of stairs and then suddenly, unexpectedly, we were at the Grand Bassin (which cannot be seen at all until you actually reach it). There we saw Le Notre's 'follies'--his cluster of fountains (all dry, all in need of salvation) and, in the distance, the towering sculpture of Hercules leaning on his club. For those visitors unable to conquer the grounds on their own two feet, golf carts drive you around the periphery of the gardens. We walked and took in the expanse of impeccable green laws and reflecting pools until we arrived at the flowery parterre again and were enchanted by the Bonsai orange trees punctuating it--full of tantalizing fruit.
A word about why the Chateau and Garden Statuary are in such a state: Well, it is France's only privately owned chateau that has remained solely in private possession. After the French Revolution, when all other royal property was requisitioned by the new Republique Francais, Vaux remained in private hands--owned by the descendants of Nicholas Fouquet. Known today as the Sommiers, they still live in part of the chateau (their contemporary family pictures were evident in some of the rooms). They are, therefore, not eligible for state funding in the same way that state-owned properties such as Versailles are. Hence, any restoration has to be done by private fund-raising, a truly uphill task. What little they do manage to raise, goes piece-meal into refurbishing and maintaining the rooms and grounds--there is precious little left to acquire period furniture to fill the rooms. Someday, when it is all done, the building will be spectacular inside and out and certainly worth a visit.
We had little time to linger in the stables (although our ticket covered it) because our Chateaubus to the station left the chateau at 3. 10--we did not want to miss it. We took the 3. 45 train back from Merlun and arrived in Paris at 4. 30 in time to hop into a bus and get back home.
Laduree tea awaited as I caught up on my email at home. I was finally able to Skype with Chriselle today and gave her a long-overdue video tour of my apartment, the gardens outside and the hall with its lovely wrought-iron staircase. She was suitably enchanted!
It was then time to make some Father's Day calls--and I did. To my own father in Bombay to thank him for being an exceptional Dad and my lovely husband who is ditto. Some more Skypeing continued before I attended to chores and feel asleep exhausted at 11. 30 pm.
It was too beautiful a day to expect a repeat tomorrow, so I am not holding my breath.
A demain!
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