Day Trip: The alternative Versailles
Versailles is deservedly a required stop on the standard Paris tourist itinerary. It's difficult for anything to diminish the sheer magnificence of the house and gardens, but the hordes of visitors can make it feel like the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. If you're looking for a more authentic chateau experience, try Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Vaux-le-Vicomte was built by the French financial secretary Nicolas Foquet in the 1660s. Foquet, known for his intelligence, wit, generosity and patronage of artists such as Moliere, was appointed to his post after the state treasury collapsed in 1653. Although he successfully raised the capital to support royal spending, he was eventually sentenced to life in prison by Louis XIV.
Vaux-le-Vicomte is 55 kilometers outside of Paris and is accessible by the RER line D to Melun, and then the "Chateaubus" shuttle which runs on weekends and holidays. While the approach to Versailles in lined with charter tour buses and souvenir shops, the road to Vaux is lined with plane trees which border rolling meadows. The chateau is interesting yet small enough to be manageable, but the real highlight of the visit is the gardens. Spread over three kilometers, the gardens were designed by French landscape designer Le Notre, known for his work at Versailles and numerous other big-name chateaux. Here, Le Notre plays with the laws of perspective and creates optical illusions using gradually-sloping terraced plots.
On Friday and Saturday evenings in the summer, the chateau and gardens stay open late and are illuminated with over 2000 candles. A champagne bar in the garden washes away any fire-safety concerns you may have about this arrangement.
The chateau has a small and pricey cafe and there are no restaurants in the immediate vicinity.
All information for your visit can be found here:
http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/
Please don't be put off by the cheesiness of the website - the chateau itself is pure class.