. . . just 55 kilometres southeast of paris, near melun, and in maincy, lies a baroque french château, vaux-le-vicomte, one of the places shall always love best; a favourite parisian cousin drove us there one magnificently cloudy day, past tree-lined and winding country roads, old stone churches and fields of crimson poppies, past tiny cafés in picturesque villages, and when we finally arrived, it was utterly breathtaking . . .

. . . built by nicolas fouquet between 1656 and 1661, le château de vaux-le-vicomte includes the work of three artists: louis le vau as architect, charles le brun as decorator, and andre le notre as landscaper; as the story goes, the château’s magnificence was said to have incurred the jealously of the king louis xiv, who built the château de versailles to be even grander, although it is believed that his inspiration was based heavily on vaux-le-vicomte . . .

. . . and since our photographs still lie trapped in a camera somewhere, was positively thrilled to happen upon these and be brought back to that beautifully cloudy day in june, just outside of paris . . .

{p.s.} more images : the grand salon or rotunda // the gardens // salon d’hercules

{images: all photography by ♫ ♪ zoomy on flickr; extra images via paris1972}