The first time I became aware of the splendour of French ‘art de vivre’ was when my parents hauled me off to this château on a Spring break to Paris. I was probably no more than eleven years of age and, likely, moaned all the way.

It was probably my most dramatic experience of sublime beauty.

To visit Vaux-le-Vicomte, not far from Paris, is to enter a fairytale, an enchanted delight. Set as it is, deep in a valley, one wonders how anyone could have conceived how perfect the site would be before the forest was cleared.

Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s finance minister and creator of this paradise, was a remarkable patron of the Arts - and for a period of ten years, he encouraged Vaux to become an haven for leading French artists: writers, poets, painters and sculptors.

Louis le Vaux was the architect, Charles Lebrun created the interiors and André le Notre composed the gardens. Fouquet held a breathtaking party to open his château – to the disapproval of the King, unwilling to tolerate such a flagrant display of wealth and culture. Fouquet was locked away for life.

It is a jewel, a model for French art throughout the 17th and 18th centuries – and, as you'll discover, one of the most beautiful places you could ever hope to visit.