We started with an early breakfast, which I thought would be a to-go bag but instead, was the same spread. Since I loved the pear-mint jam, I tucked in. Thibaut and I were talking about different sites when SMS reminded me about the time. Oh yeah!
We drove to Caen to drop off the car. Having a car was really key in our Normandy explorations, even for someone as pro-public transport as me. The pick-up/drop-off was pretty painless and I would recommend Sixt as a good agency.
We took the train to Paris, followed by a metro transfer to get to our Hotel des Grand Voyageurs. That’s us! The hotel is in a great neighborhood close to the Jardin du Luxembourg. We arrived at lunchtime and after dropping off our bags, headed out for lunch.
Earlier this year, I read Ina Garten’s memoir. In it, she spoke about her French travels and gave some of her 6th arr recommendations. It wasn’t a list per se, but over the course of 2-3 pages, she mentioned several of her favorite places. Well, guess what, now they’re popular, lol. Or maybe the cafe we went to is just that good but nevertheless, my first choice had a wait that we weren’t interested in.
On our walk over, SMS had noticed a cool kitchen so we retraced our steps and ended up at Kimono, where the served fat soba. I ordered the soba set and SMS had soba salad. It was excellent and really refreshing, light but satisfying lunch.
Le Château du Vaux-le-Vicomte
We returned to the hotel where our room was ready. We changed and headed across town to a bus that would take us to the candlelit evening at Le Château du Vaux-le-Vicomte, which is about 50 minutes SE of Paris. It was built by Nicholas Fouquet, King Louis XIV’s finance minister. He used a trio of master artisans who were later commissioned to build Versailles, which incorporated some of the concepts used at the V-l-V. The main architect Louis Le Van, the grounds designer Charles Le Brun, and the paysagiste André Le Nôtre.
The château was absolutely stunning throughout the event. It’s gorgeous in the afternoon, sunset, and in the evening when candlelit. It was really exquisite! SMS and I walked around the grounds which took a long time. There’s one pool in the back that you would think would have a bridge across, but you would think wrong. So, we went around. It was dedication, but we also had the time. We arrived around 5:30, had an interior tour time of 9 o’clock, and then waited for the fireworks at 11.
For dinner, we split a 30 cm Parisian sandwich, which we ordered from the sandwich-by-the-meter counter in Bon Marché. We also had figs, chips, and Speculoos cookies. It was a great picnic.
The interior was interesting, but the exterior is definitely the star of the show. We were perfectly situated for the fireworks which exploded right above us and were really pretty. There were several I hadn’t seen before that looked like gold sequin boas in the sky and little star-shaped sparkles. Even though there were times when we were just waiting around, overall, the event was pretty awesome. Also, it felt like something that would really only be available in Europe so it’s nice to do locally unique things.
And now, lots of pictures…
Oh, how stunning! I love the Lego art too, of the famous unicorn paintings at the Cluny. Will you visit that museum? It’s not too far from your hotel, but I’m sure you have a very busy itinerary. I’m so glad you’re posting, this is so fun to read!
I saw a unicorn tapestry at the Cloisters in NYC. Have not been to the Cluny here- I think I may have to do a Paris only trip in the future to fit in all the things I want to do.
I’m pretty sure one could spend decades in Paris and not see everything.
I would love to see the unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters! Perhaps someday…