Escape Paris Crowds At A Nearby Well-Preserved Chateau And Museum Called A 'Jewel Of France'

The City of Lights can be a gorgeous, glorious, mess of a city. Chaotic and sophisticated, it combines some of the best and the worst tourist experiences in the world. Its iconic landmarks are world-famous, and rightly so, but it can be an intense, crowded experience, and spots like the Eiffel Tower are often tourist traps. There are plenty of gorgeous French cities with fewer crowds to visit, but something always draws travelers back to the romance and restlessness of Paris.

Fortunately, there are many nearby attractions where you can escape the Paris crowds and find beauty, intrigue, and stunning sights without having to give up the joys of the French capital entirely. One of the most interesting places to discover is the Château de Maintenon, a fairytale castle that is steeped in stories from one of the most fascinating and outrageous periods in France's history. Better yet, it's only about an hour and a half from Paris by train or car.

A considerable part of the attraction of the Château de Maintenon is its remarkable and, at times, salacious history. The castle is beautiful, of course, but it might well have been just another pretty château on the Loire River were it not for its most famous inhabitants. Françoise d'Aubigné, known as Madame de Maintenon, was the widow of the renowned Baroque poet Paul Scarron. Initially appointed as the governess to the illegitimate children of King Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan, over several years, Françoise seduced the Sun King and eventually married him in secret.

The Château de Maintenon became something of an alternative court to Versailles, with huge renovation and restoration works carried out to create a location fit for the king and his retainers. André le Nôtre, the landscape gardener responsible for the Tuileries, created the beautiful garden and grounds, and an enormous aqueduct was designed and built (although never finished) by Sébastien Le Prestre, Marquis of Vauban.

Madame de Maintenon was far more than just the king's lover and secret wife. A wonderful character in her own right, she hosted Paul Scarron's salon, befriended Anne of Austria, and took an active role in royal politics following her marriage to Louis XIV. She founded an educational establishment for women and wrote extensively.

The best way to explore the Château de Maintenon is on a self-guided tour so that you can take in the external grandeur and opulent interiors at your own pace. You can pick up a free guide brochure at the entrance, which will give you all the information you need to trace the history of this fascinating royal home.

A tour will take you through the exquisitely appointed apartments of Madame de Maintenon and Louis XIV, designed and decorated in the flamboyant style of France in the 17th century. You'll also have the chance to explore the more modest and subdued rooms that were renovated in the 19th century by Paul de Noailles, as well as the Grande Galerie, hung with a collection of historic royal portraits. This stunning room, designed to echo the galleries at Versailles, also connects the château to the church to ensure that the Sun King could attend mass without risk of being caught in the rain.

Finally, no visit to the château would be complete without a thorough exploration of the gardens and grounds. The formal gardens are an exquisite example of 17th-century French landscape design, but the real highlight is the grandiose aqueduct looming unfinished at the far end of the estate. It is a testament to the exaggerated vision and hubris of the Sun King and adds unique context to this amazing destination.