Why Vaux Le Vicomte?
I loooved Versailles, the entire property is HUGE, the landscaping was impressive, the palace itself is jaw-dropping, the place itself just screams affluence. When I went there we had a tour guide who explained how it was in the 17th century. Back then there was no electricity so the chandeliers had to be lowered and real candles had to be put in and lighted and it gets hoisted up again. I forgot na what type of candle didn’t emit black smoke which was what the nobles were using, of course.
Anyhoot, the people involved in building Versailles are the same group who built Vicomte and since I enjoyed visiting it last time I thought of seeing another château. It was this or Fontainebleau and I found better reviews on the former.
How did you get here?
From Paris (Gare de l’Est) we took a train to Verneuil l’Etang and from here a shuttle was waiting for us. It was actually easy to get a ticket from Paris coz once you get to the station you head downstairs and look for a train personnel. We did and paid using credit card (the guy actually punched in the wrong amount and had to refund me in cash) BUT because I wasn’t thinking clearly I didn’t get to buy a return trip, I figured it’ll be the same thing in Verneuil. It wasn’t. I went on a weekend and by the time we finished most establishments are closed so we had to purchase it from a booth and because we’re not from there we took a while to actually get tickets. Note: always know the translation of “sorry”.
How much did that cost you?
The château is pre-booked (EUR19.50) and supposedly for a night visit but the weather was really bad on the date we intended to go so we postponed to the following day (candlelit visits are only every Saturday during summer). The shuttle bus is also pre-booked at EUR10.00 round trip. The train was PHP1K (converted, I can’t remember the exact price) per way, kinda pricey now that I’m remembering LOL, c’est la vie.
What did you eat?
There’s a cafeteria in the château and I spent about PHP900, the servings were enough for the price.
What did you do here?
Call me lame but I really enjoy visiting old places, may it be as grand as a palace or as quaint as a bahay na bato. Iba yung feeling, to actually step into something that other people stayed and lived in. And maybe there’s a part of me that believes in reincarnation so feeling ko I might’ve lived in a different century at some point.
What’s the one thing you recommend/most memorable moment in this place?
I was disappointed when I didn’t get to do the candlelight visit but that’s what traveling is all about, I suppose. You plan for the best but like most things in life the best-laid ones often go awry so you learn to just go with the flow. That said, if I got to do that I’d probably consider that the most memorable but since I didn’t I’d have to say just walking around the château grounds is a recommended experience in itself, ang lawak kasi LOL.
it begins with a step 