
The Château Vaux-le-Vicomte is hosting a three-day chocolate show, Palais du Chocolat, featuring awesome chocolate sculptures, tastings and demos November 9-11.

As it’s the 400th anniversary of the château’s illustrious landscape architect André Le Nôtre, the gardens were the inspiration for the chocolate sculptures.

This enormous sculpture above in the main salon is by Sadaharu Aoki. Below, the dining room decorated with golden macarons.

The Palais du Chocolat takes place in the main chateau and some of the other buildings in the gardens. Entrance (€16) also gives you access to visit the rest of the estate and gardens, and for a €3 supplement you can go up into the dome for awesome views over the gardens.

There are only a few stairs to climb, but they get smaller and smaller, so if you’re claustrophobic, afraid of heights or suffer from vertigo, this might not be for you. Everyone else: can’t beat the views on a clear day!

I spent the last hour before sunset walking down to the canal and fountains at the far end of the gardens. No flowers this time of year, but there are some really beautiful sculptures and the lovely fall color in the trees.


November 11th is the last day the château is open until the holiday season, Vaux-le-Vicomte Fête Noël, starting November 30th through January 5th. The entire château is decorated with Christmas decorations and lights for the occasion (pics from 2011 below), highly recommended!


Another must-see event at the castle are the “Candlelit Evenings at Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte” every Saturday May through October.

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