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Friday, March 18, 2011

Gardens at the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy, France

 from Yann Arthus-Bertrand's

THE EARTH FROM THE AIR

Gardens at the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy, France (N 48"34' E 2"43')

The 'Turkish carpets' - decorative gardens of boxwood hedges - of the chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte are the work of the landscape-architect Andre Le Notre (1613-1700). Designed for Nicolas Fouquet, Minister of France, the chateau was built in five years by approximately 18,000 workers. The garden, set off by several lakes and fountains, is 8,000 feet (2,500 m) long, which required the destruction of two hamlets. Fouquet invited the young king Louis XIV to visit in 1661. Offended by the splendour of his subject's abode, the king ordered an investigation of Fouquet and had him arrested. Le Notre, for his part, was assigned the direction of the royal parks and gardens. He designed other gardens 'a la francaise' for the chateaux of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Cloud and Fontainebleau, but his masterpiece remains the gardens of Versailles, the palace of the 'Sun King' himself. 


 This postcard was sent by Telenn as a thank you postcard for her sister, who is struggling for her exams.
It was one of my favorites, and wasn't really expecting that it was BIG!

It was favorited 6 times.

5,541 Postcards to Go!



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