One of the great things about Vicomte Palace was the excellent brochure we were given, that not only has a clear map of the entire estate but also shows much of the history of the palace and its facilities, including the special aids provided for those with mobility issues, such as electric cars to drive them through the gardens. Relevant statistics are also provided. For example, we are told that the French formal gardens occupy 33 hectares and feature 20 working pools (there were 36 in Nicolas’s time), the entire estate area is 500 hectares, and 70 people are employed on the estate, including those who maintain its forests. It would have been great to have such a brochure available at all the places we visited.
I did mention in Part 1 that a range of initiatives have been set up for families to enjoy the estate. They include a treasure hunt (in French), pedal boats on the Grand Canal, mountain bikes and riddles in the forest, and a croquet game. What great fun!
One aspect of the palace itself I found interesting was the fact that at a time when people did not bathe, a bathroom with a bidet was set up inside the palace. This would have been highly unusual at the time.
We saw rooms both upstairs and downstairs, including the servants’ dining room, cellar and kitchen, complete with stuffed boars and stuffed pheasants to show what probably was eaten at the time. We were rather taken aback to see them, I must confess.
I have not captioned the photos below. They start with an old painting of the palace in its heyday from the fountain at the back of the garden with the Grand Canal, then show the private quarters of Nicolas, include the commode and bath in the bathroom, and end with the kitchen area. Bear in mind that the photos I showed in Parts 1 and 2 were taken in between these. They feature lovely ceramics, wallpapers, ceilings, furniture and tapestries.
This is my last post on the Seine river cruise. It was that night I came down with food poisoning, which I have already talked about. Despite that, it was wonderful journey, though if I had to choose between my two river cruises, the one from Amsterdam to Budapest was even more spectacular and more enjoyable. But then, it was a lot longer and we had a very dynamic tour director, far more special experiences and far more entertainment by very talented local people as well. Each was run by the same company.
My next post will be about Gibraltar, the first port of call on this sea voyage. Now that was an interesting place too!
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