Saturday June 23, 2007: Paris!

Us at Fontainebleau

On the steps at Vaux Le Vicomte
Entrance of Vicomte
one word..BEAUTIFUL!
Today was wonderful! First off, we slept in until ten o'clock which was much needed after everything we went through yesterday. We had a bus arranged that picked us up at our hotel and took us to all our destinations for the day. It would have been nice to have this kind of service everyday, but in all reality, part of the experience is the traveling it takes to get there! Our first stop was Fontainebleau. It was a gorgeous mansion that dates back to the 12th century. Since then, all the kings of France have lived in the Palace. The most impressive part was the horseshoe stairway at the entrance to the Palace. After Fontainebleau, we hopped back on the bus and headed for Vaux Le Vicomte. On the way, our bus driver stopped at a supermarket so we all could get some lunch for our planned picnic at Vicomte. I will never forget how confusing it was to shop there! It was hilarious. None of us know a lick of French so it was tough trying to figure out what kind of meat we were buying for our sandwiches. When we arrived to Vaux leVicomte we enjoyed our picnic and walked the gardens. We waited to go inside because we had a candlelit tour eight. At night they light everything up with candles, even outside in the gardens! At eight the sun wasn’t down yet so we didn’t get to have the full experience of the candles but luckily they shut all the blinds inside so it was very dark. I loved it because it gave us a real glimpse of what the house looked like some four hundred years ago when they didn’t have electricity and had to use candles.Vaux dates back to the early seventeenth century and is home to the tragic story of Nicolas Fouquet. Fouquet was King Louis XIV's superintendent of finances and a faithful minister who built the beautiful Chateau. The King visited Vicomte and threw Fouquet in prison for life out of jealousy of his beautiful estate. The history and beauty of this place was fascinating. I loved it here. We finished Vicomte around ten oclock and jumped on our bus for the long ride home. Today was once again ..amazing! Tomorrow five of us are going to Disneyland Paris and I can’t wait!