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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 21:02:33 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 21:25:10 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 23:42:57 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 23:51:54 GMT 1
Here we see one of the two or three old lavoirs (wash houses) which still remain. Here is Le Moulin de la Chambre, one of four mills in Maincy. I was finishing up my visit and getting ready to leave Maincy when I saw this sign, indicating a historic monument. I can't tell you how many times I've seen one of these signs and then head off in the direction to which it points only to discover no further signage indicating how to find the noted attraction. Such was the case with this sign so I just moved on. Only later did I discover that the Pont de Maincy was a little bridge immortalized in a painting by Paul Cézanne which now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay. So I have no picture of what it probably the town's most famous attraction. Doh!!! I promise to show it to you, however, if you come riding with me. Now it was time to move on to the most famous attraction on this ride, the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Here is my approach. If you've heard of Vaux-le-Vicomte before then bear with me for a few minutes while I explain a bit about it to those who have never heard of it. There are entire books written about Vaux-le-Vicomte and its ill fated owner Niclolas Fouquet so I'm going to be as brief as possible to give a general overview of why Vaux-le-Vicomte is so important and worth visiting. Vaux-le-Vicomte was one of the most important châteaux built in the 17th century and was the inspiration for Louis XIV's much more famous (and visited) château at Versailles, as well as many other châteaux. Its fame was due to its architectural design and the layout of the gardens both of which would later come to define what was known as the Louis XIV style. At the time it was built it was the most elaborate and grand château in France. While this fact alone would make it famous what magnifies its importance is the personal tale of the owner, Nicolas Fouquet, whose spectacular downfall from a position of wealth and power to life imprisonment makes its telling worthy of comparison to a Greek tragedy. Nicolas Fouquet was the superintendent of finances under Louis XIV and had his famous château constructed from 1656 to 1661. At Vaux-le-Vicomte the architect Louis LeVau, the landsape architect André le Nôtre and the painter/decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large scale project for the first time. Fouquet was a lover and patron of the arts and a lover of beauty and pleasure in every form. He showered many of the noted artists of the day with gifts, commissions and encouragement and thereby attracted other distinguished individuals, patrons and persons of the court. On August 17, 1661 Louis XIV wished to visit the château to check on its progress as he had heard many wonderful reports about it from those in the court. Fouquet was not without ambition as he was seeking to inherit the position of First Minister from the previous First Minister Cardinal Mazarin, who had recently died. To win over the king Fouquet planned a spectacular festival in the kings honor that would become known as the party of the century. However Fouquet's underling, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, had his own ambitions and had been whispering negative things in the kings ear about Fouquet, including charges of embezzlement and that he was at the head of an anti-royalist plot. The king had his own reasons for wanting to get rid of Fouquet (I won't get into all the details) and was actually going to Vaux-le-Vicomte with the intention of arresting him. At the party there was much celebration, pomp and grand display of all manner and Molière even performed a play. All of this was followed by a dazzling fireworks display to finish off the night. Fouquet was at the pinnacle of his glory, and on the precipice of his downfall. The king wanted to arrest Fouquet right then and there but was talked out of this by the queen, who advised him to retain his composure in front of the guests since this was a party in his honor. Since Louis had one of the biggest egos in history and Vaux-le-Vicomte was more opulent and luxurious than any of his residences he must also have been boiling with jealousy. A few weeks later Fouquet was arrested on trumped up charges and after a lengthy three year trial was imprisoned for the remainder of his life, which lasted until 1680. Voltaire later commented of the party, ''On 17 August, at six in the evening Fouquet was the King of France: at two in the morning he was nobody." Louis then went on to employ Le Vau, Le Brun and le Nôtre in the construction of his even grander (some, including myself, would say less tasteful) château at Versailles. There's obviously much more depth and texture to this story than I am providing here but this is a report about biking, not châteaux, so if you want to learn more about Vaux-le-Vicomte here is the link to the official website: www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/index.phpI didn't visit the château today so all I have to show you is a few pictures I took from outside the front gate, and since the sun was shining directly into the camera lens they're not even great pictures but it's all I've got. I left Vaux-le-Vicomte behind and headed on to the next town of Moisenay. If there was anything of great historical importance I could tell you about Moisenay I certainly would. But there isn't. Its two ''tourist attractions'' are the park by the little river with an old mill building, a bridge made of stone and the bell tower of the 12th to 13th century church, which is the only one in the Seine-et-Marne department made entirely of stone. I saw the church but I didn't visit the mill and bridge. Perhaps we'll take a little detour to visit them next time. Nonetheless, it's the kind of quaint little rural village I like to ride through so I did. And you will too. So let's see it.
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 23:57:22 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 10, 2011 23:59:38 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:07:19 GMT 1
For eons before the appearance of the Maytag man this is what the cutting edge of laundry technology looked like. I walked up to the castle entrance to get a peek inside. It is open to the public and for a small admission you can explore the castle. Guided tours are available. The day I was here there happened to be a car show inside the castle walls featuring expensive sports cars. If modern expensive sports cars weren't your thing there was also a performance of a traditional style one man band accompanied by acrobats, including a male pole dancer! As I was walking away from the covered entry of the castle a pigeon in the rafters above decided to heed the call of nature and let loose with what in medieval times would have been considered a precious gift of fertilizer. Today we know this ancient gift as bird turd and luckily it just missed me. But it didn't miss making a direct hit on the top of the head of the guy behind me. I only mention this because it's funny and it's funny because it didn't happen to me. Sorry, I don't have a photo (what was I gonna say ''Hey mister, before you wipe that off do you mind if I get a photo? Just hold still and try to look embarrassed and disgusted. I want to capture you in the moment. I promise, I won't show this to anybody.''). Having enjoyed the various forms of entertainment at the castle, I went to visit the church. Little did I know there would be more entertainment here. See all those sign boards in the previous photo? They were full of cartoons that seemed to be making jokes about religion. Not poking fun at religion, just sort of having a good time with it. For non-French speakers, the religious woman knocking on the guys door is saying ''Jesus is coming back'' and the man watching soccer on TV is saying ''Couldn't he wait until the end of the match?'' Time to leave Blandy and head back into the countryside. The next attraction on the agenda is the Château d'Aunoy. You know you are approaching a château in France whenever you see a lengthy stone wall surrounding a large expanse of land. Prior to the existence of the present château there was a medieval castle here until 1750 when it was destroyed by fire. The subsequent château was rebuilt by Jean-Baptiste Chabert who chose to create the first English style gardens in France to surround his château. Upon the death of the château owner in 1837 it was pillaged by bandits who stole its furniture to sell off for profits. Fortunately they did not destroy the premises. The château passed through several owners until 1980 when it was purchased by the Tapiau family who own it to this day. The château is presently available for rent for receptions and various events and private visits for groups can be arranged for visits of the gardens.
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:10:55 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:19:33 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:20:49 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:22:32 GMT 1
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Post by French Mystique Tours on May 11, 2011 0:24:09 GMT 1
There is one final place to visit before our journey ends and that is a medieval fortified farm known as the Fief des Epoisses. And up close. When I got home I googled the name to see what this place was all about. Here's what their website told me: Its name comes from the old French word “espesse” which means “thickness”, a dense forest. One can easily imagine the Fief, at the time, with its tower and crenels dominating the dense thickets, completely surrounded by a vast forest. Its origins go back very far ; it was cited for the first time in 1285, in the Partition Charter of the Viscount de Melun, between the two brothers Adam and Jean ; Jean’s share included the rent and income for the Epoisses. Learning that this place was once surrounded by a dense forest gives one the indication as to just how much tree cutting has occurred in this region over the last 800 years. Today it is being used as a business conference center. Time for a little rest under a nice shady tree. Back to the road. Perhaps you've committed some sort of felony offense and need a place to lay low for a while. This Gîte Rural is in the middle of nowhere and I'm pretty sure no one would ever think of looking for you here. More open road. And here are a couple of photos of Mormant where the journey ends and we take the train back to Paris. Our bike tour day trip from Pairs to go biking in the French countryside is now over so that is all there is to show you today. Hope you enjoyed the ride. We'll head back to do some biking in Paris, sort of a mini bike tour in Paris, on our way to return the bikes before we part company.
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zefer
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by zefer on Sept 16, 2014 3:30:09 GMT 1
Hi! I really enjoyed this thread, text and photos are very good. I intend to do a bike trip around Melun-Maincy-Blandy and I have some questions about: it's a well signalized way, or I'll need a map to do this ride? I don't speak French well (in fact, I don't speak English very well either...) to get some information there, so I need to know how difficult is the way. Thanks a lot.
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Post by French Mystique Tours on Sept 24, 2014 12:58:52 GMT 1
Hi zefer. Leave Melun on the Boulevard de Maincy, which will turn into the rue de Melun once you leave the city. This brings you to Maincy. Leave Maincy on the D82 then the D636 and then take the D215 past Vaux-le-Vicomte. Continuing past Vaux take your first right into Moisenay and take the main road through the village and on to Blandy-les-Tours. Do the same in reverse to get back to Melun. Get Michelin map #514 for the Île-de-France and guide yourself. Take a train from Gare de Lyon to Melun and a return train from Mormant to Paris from Mormant. Use a Mobilis one day pass for zones 1-5 for your train ticket. Use www.transilien.com for train schedules. Have fun.
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zefer
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by zefer on Sept 24, 2014 17:01:15 GMT 1
Thanks a lot for the precious information, Bruce! One more question, if you allow me: can I rent a bike at Melun, or is better to do it in Paris? Thanks one more time.
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Post by French Mystique Tours on Sept 26, 2014 14:16:37 GMT 1
I don't know of any place that you could rent a bike in Melun so I would rent it in Paris and bring it on the train with you. Depending on how much biking you want to do you can return to Melun after Blandy or look at the map and find your way to Mormant and take the train back from there.
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zefer
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by zefer on Sept 27, 2014 23:16:01 GMT 1
Thanks, one more time.
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