Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy, Île-de-France, France

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte was built in 1658 - 1661 by Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances of King Louis XIV. The south-facing back view of the chateau and it's gardens look good even during our winter visit.

Same view reflected in one of the many pools.  The king felt upstaged by Mr. Fouquet's chateau, had him imprisoned for life, seized much of the estates items, and forced his design team to build a grander project just for him, The Palace at Versailles.

The front view of the chateau. Nicolas Fouquet died in prison roughly 20 years later.

This is a 180-degree front view of the chateau looking south......

.....and standing in the same spot, the other 180-degrees looking north. (Panoramas - click on image to view full width).

The similarity between this chateau and Versailles is apparent in the design of the buildings, furnishings, and grounds.

I guess King Louis XIV didn't like competition.

I'm always one to seek the high ground and inside the dome, a narrow wooden staircase leads to an outside "widow's walk" type balcony surrounding the dome. 

A pretty nice backyard view from the top of the dome.

I think she is probably bored with her parent's tourist activity so this young girl would apparently rather drop the walkway stones on her little brother for entertainment.

And speaking of entertainment, this is a photo of one of the chateau's photos - it was taken during a summer event that features candles and fireworks. I'd buy a ticket to see that........