Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte at Easter in France
During the Easter weekend, we decided to go to Paris, and when in France, there is no better place to spend Easter than at a castle! Because of the Easter events they had to offer, we chose Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. which is located just outside of Paris and was used as a hunting lodge for the royals long ago.
Today, you can visit the main building of “le château” and its gardens, which are filled with fountains, lawns, flowers and statues. Vaux le Vicomte is quite impressive with its size and architecture, and we couldn’t wait to see just how they made it even more special for Easter.
Spending Easter in France
When the boys woke up at the bed and breakfast earlier that morning, they were happy to see that the Easter Bunny left them a couple of chocolate eggs, but it didn’t seem as special as Easter mornings normally do at home.
When I was a child, I remember going to church and going to the park for an egg hunt and of course, watching the Ten Commandments on Easter night. I don’t know why, but I love that movie. Maybe, I’m a sucker for Charlton Heston in a toga, at least the pre-RHA/pre-wrinkled Charlton, or could it have been Yul Brenner.(?) 😉
(Side note: It was really because I just like the story of Moses. Really! I’m serious!)
I guess I was feeling a bit sad that they couldn’t have my childhood experiences, but I was really hoping that this experience at Vaux-le-Vicomte would be even better.
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Before you go to Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
We were lucky that we researched this place before leaving Denmark and bought our tickets online. When we arrived at the château, it was at the beginning of the day, but there were already two lines to get tickets. Luckily again, the line for those who bought their tickets online was much shorter. It pays to do a bit of homework before going anywhere new!
One for All and All for One: The Musketeers of Vaux-le-Vicomte
After leaving the ticket building, we were took a map for the annual Easter egg hunt. This was, of course, for children, and ours were very excited to do an egg hunt at a castle outside of Paris. As we were reading our map and walking towards the château, we noticed a large group of musketeers. I have never seen a musketeer before, so this was rather interesting and kind of fun.
Cowboys…knights…pirates…yes. Musketeers…no.
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The boys, of course, were very interested with the sword play and knew a bit about what a musketeer was, since they saw the 3 Musketeer movie with Mickey, Donald and Goofy at some point in time before we left for France. They remember everything.
I, of course, was channeling my 90’s trivia and a memory of a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio that discussed Musketeers in some way. It seems a bit sad to say that my own knowledge of the topic is from Hollywood movies. Maybe I should have read more books on France/French culture as a kids, huh? Nonetheless, I was getting my education today.
Easter Challenges in the Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte
After seeing a very cool demonstration by the musketeers, we walked straight through the château to get to the other side. That might sound a bit weird, but since the line was long to get past the entrance and we expected the line to continue to be long during this special day at Vaux-le-Vicomte, we thought it was in our best interest to do the egg hunt first and the château afterwards.
The boys were in wonder of the very large view of the “jardin de Vaux le Vicomte” or the Vaux le Vicomte gardens. In fact, my oldest son loves anything that has to do with exploring. He was all about using the map. Little brother also wanted to play along, so he also had a map of the Easter egg hunt at Vaux le Vicomte. They looked so cute walking around trying to navigate. 🙂
Task Number One: Sword Golf at Château Vaux-le-Vicomte
The first task at this picturesque caste outside of Paris, France was for children to go up a small hill and hit an egg down the hill using a wooden sword. My oldest was more interested in this than his little brother. Though he was a bit lacking in his sword skills, he tried his best! 🙂
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Apparently, it is a lot harder than it looks. At the bottom of the hill, the children were given a green egg for completing this task. This was just a plastic egg, but we had to hold on to it for the whole course so that it could be exchanged for chocolate.
Task Number Two: Easter Crafts at the Château
Task number two was easy to find, since it was just a few steps from task number 1. Here, the boys had to make a yellow pompom out of yarn. There were very specific instructions for what to do, in French of course, and all the materials were set up on a couple of tables. They had volunteers to help if needed, but the children could just start working on the pompom when the materials weren’t in use by someone else.
Luckily for us, the crowd wasn’t too crazy since we got there right when they opened. It was nice to have a bit of family-craft time together. They are only this size for a short time, and I am glad we were able to have this new experience together. The boys really enjoyed making this craft, though it wasn’t the most difficult or the most glamorous. It was just a nice time to do something as a family, and I think they knew it as much as I did.
After making the pompom, the boys took it over to the giant duck that was slowly forming on a metal, mess wall. I think they were proud to contribute to such a piece of art. I really liked the idea. They each received an orange, plastic egg for their hard work, and we were ready to move on to the next challenge.
The Beautiful Jardin Vaux-le-Vicomte
The garden was very large, so it took some time to walk the length of it. The boys were amazed by it all, because it was so grand. They truly felt that they were on an adventure. We, as parents, felt that we were on cloud nine the entire time because the day was truly unique.
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and everyone was in happy, Easter moods. Perhaps, the Easter challenges added to this, since the garden would have just been flowers, grass, water and statues to a little boy, but it isn’t everyday that we are at a château.
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Sacred Waterfall of Château Vaux-le-Vicomte, France
Once we reached the far end of the garden at Château Vaux-le-Vicomte, we noticed that there was a waterfall and a stream of some sorts. I had heard that the water from the waterfall at the Château Vaux-le-Vicomte is said to be sacred on Easter.
Just a little tidbit that I found interesting, since the boys’ next challenge was to fish for a large, plastic sphere in the same stream that came from the waterfall. They, of course, didn’t think anything of the fact that they were fishing in sacred water. They were only interested in getting the next egg for their collection, and this time, it would be a blue egg.
Task Number 3: Fishing in the Vaux-le-Vicomte Gardens
There was a container filled with butterfly nets that the boys used to fish for this ball. The bank of the stream was actually a bit high, and I was a little concerned that little brother would fall in. He was only 4 and didn’t have the longest arms.
Luckily, their dad has very long arms, and he was there to help. Big brother was also a bit clumsy at this age, and I could just imagine him falling into the water like he did when we went to Jespershus. I was helping him, but mostly, I was holding my breath and praying that he wouldn’t fall in! 😉
With our blue, plastic eggs in tow, we started to walk back to the château on the other side of the garden. The longer walk gave the boys some extra time to read the map and for us to talk about the day as a family.
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The boys said that they were having a great Easter, and we were excited for what was ahead at the end of the challenges. We knew that there was an egg hunt up ahead, and we were ready!
Egg Hunt at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in France
The final stop was the Easter egg hunt. The map wasn’t very specific of how this would look, so we were all eager to see just what it would entail. When we arrived to that area, we saw a sign that pointed to different egg hunts. Since we had a 4 year old and a 7 year old, we had to go to two different grassy areas.
Easter Egg Hunt for a 4 year old
At each place, there was a young volunteer, who told the boys to find three eggs of the same color in order to finish the last challenge. For little brother, the eggs were hidden in an area with some large bushes and trees. He had a great time looking for them, and he was very proud that it didn’t take long to find 3 blue eggs.
Easter Egg Hunt for the 7 year old
Big brother had to go to a larger, grassy area that needed a mow. 🙂 I guess this made it a bit harder for him to find the eggs. He had a good time, and found 3 green eggs.
There weren’t any other little kids doing the egg hunt when he was there, so there was no pressure for him to get the eggs quickly. I’m glad for this, since we were having a nice relaxing day. This was another part of that fun, and we never stopped feeling that this was the absolute best place to spend Easter.
Once the boys found their eggs, the volunteer said to take the eggs from all of the challenges to a reward tent to get the final prize. This is where the boys each received a bag with chocolate inside. There were small chocolate eggs wrapped in colorful tinfoil and there were also these “hot dog bun” looking things.
It tasted much like Nutella in a sweet bun. I had never seen anything like it, and it made me wonder if this was a normal thing for kids to eat in France at Easter. The boys were particularly proud of themselves. However, they needed to hold off on eating the entire contents of the bag until after we had lunch.
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Getting Lunch at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
There was a building, which held the entrance counter and gift shop, and this was also where we found a small restaurant. It was more of a cross between a very nice cafe and a fast food place. I thought it was very high-end though. They had real chefs in the kitchen with their chef-looking uniforms.
The food was also amazing. Not only did it all look very nice and well-made, it was delicious. I loved the fact that we could get salads that were hearty and healthy. I didn’t have to eat fried food!! We also got fresh rolls and an amazing dessert. This was truly a French, culinary experience.
Kid’s Meal at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
The boys found a kid’s meal with noodles and ham, but it was still a healthy choice, which made this mom very happy. The array of cheese and fruit plates was enough to make anyone want to go back for more. We were very happy with the choice of food that day. I couldn’t have asked for a better château/cafe restaurant!
There were people there, of course, who brought their own food, but my guess would be that they were locals. We were happy to have a full-on, French experience, so I am glad we didn’t bring a picnic lunch with us. They had seating both inside and outside the restaurant, but since the day was so nice outside, we decided to eat at a table in the sun!
Château Vaux-le-Vicomte’s Animals and Carriage Hall
Near the restaurant, there was a section of the building where they kept the carriages for the château. It was set up to look more like a mini museum of what the stables and carriage hall would have looked like during the olden days.
They even had mannequins dressed in costume to give visitors the full effect. Outside the carriage building, they had a grassy patch of land that had sheep. Seeing livestock at a castle was extremely surprising, but since we love animals, it was a nice touch!
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Adult Easter Egg Hunt at a Castle in France
Château Vaux-le-Vicomte doesn’t just have tons of Easter activities for the kids, but the adults also get to have some fun. They organized an Easter egg hunt to be scheduled a few times that day for the adults, and I was not about to miss out on it!
My husband wasn’t so keen on the idea, but when he realized that chocolate awaited him at the finish, he quickly changed his mind about participating.
It wasn’t as cut-throat as I envisioned. No one played dirty for the eggs, and I had found my three not long after starting. (I think I had seen too many French soccer games to think that I would have to fight for my eggs. ? Don’t get upset if you are a French soccer fan; you’ve got to see a bit of truth in that!)
The real task was to have patience while you waited in the very long line to get your bag of chocolate. The excitement was enough to help me behave!
Inside the Château at Vaux-le-Vicomte
Now that we had seen much of everything else and had fun participating in all of the Easter challenges, it was time to check out the château. Maybe it is because I am American, but I really like all types of big homes and castles. We don’t have many of them in the Midwest, where I am originally from.
If you don’t see at least one château on a trip to France, you haven’t really experienced France, in my opinion. I know that this building wasn’t where royalty lived, but it was where they went for trips to get away from it all and relax and hunt. That had to count for something.
French Easter Decorations Inside the Castle
The inside of the château didn’t disappoint and was just as awe-inspiring as the outside view and gardens. The walls and ceilings were so ornately decorated. It gave you an idea of just how those French royals used to live back in the day.
I couldn’t believe the amount of art work in nearly every available space! The tapestries also seemed as big as some walls. It was truly a remarkable sight! In the great room on the main floor, they had displays of large decorated Easter eggs. We walked around to pick which one we liked the best! The boys wanted to take them home!
Face Painting Before We Leave the Château
Next to the gift shop near the entrance we found a room where volunteers painted faces and didcrafts. This was something that didn’t cost extra and looked like a lot of fun! The boys were excited to get their faces painted, and the volunteers did a fantastic job!
Au Revoir et Joyeuses Pâques
The day was done, and all the Easter activities were enjoyed. We really loved our time visiting the château! Also, we were so glad to have found such a unique, Easter experience at a caste outside of Paris. Sightseeing the inner part of Paris was nice.
However, Château Vaux-le-Vicomte was the perfect, low-key experience for our family with small children. We were able to enjoy the outdoors, celebrate Easter and experience some French culture all in the slow pace of being in the country. It was a perfect day! We would highly recommend visiting this château anytime during the year, but we especially loved our visit at Easter.
For now, we will be saying “Au Revoir et Joyeuses Pâques” to Vaux-le-Vicomte and how to come back again!
Getting In Touch Château Vaux-le-Vicomte
If you would like to get in touch with the Château de Vaux le Vicomte, here is their information.
Website: https://vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/
Address to Château Vaux le Vicomte : 77950 Maincy, France
Château Vaux le Vicomte Telephone: +33 (0)1.64.14.41.90
Email: chateau@vaux-le-vicomte.com
Prices, Tours, and Directions to Château Vaux le Vicomte
Guided tours with the Château Vaux le Vicomte, click here
Directions to the Château Vaux le Vicomte, Click here
Hours and admission information for Château Vaux le Vicomte, click here
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