A Sunday at Vaux-le-Vicomte, the château that inspired Versailles and lunch facing a medieval fortress, an hour from Paris.

Vaux-le-Vicomte is the château that made Louis XIV jealous: Fouquet brought together Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre here, and after the party of 1661 the king imprisoned him and took the three of them off to Versailles. On a Sunday there is time to see it unhurried, without the Versailles queues, and to eat in Blandy, the next village, facing a medieval fortress that is exactly the opposite: towers and walls.

The day, hour by hour

9:00 · Leave by car. An hour from Paris on the A4 or A6 to exit 14 Voisenon. The estate's car park is free.

10:00 · The château. Arrive at opening. Two hours for the state rooms, with the great oval salon under the dome, and the private rooms, with a sound tour on a tablet. Admission with the garden costs €18; the family ticket, €59, and under-6s go in free.

12:00 · Le Nôtre's garden. Thirty-three hectares of parterres, pools and statues designed to trick the eye over distances: from the château everything seems close, and then you walk. There are electric buggies for hire for those who cannot walk far. Dogs enter the garden on a lead, not the château.

13:45 · Lunch at L'Entourloupe. In Blandy, facing Blandy-les-Tours castle. Terrace in summer, fireplace in winter; on Sundays it opens from 11:00 to 18:00. Book. After coffee, walk round the wall.

15:45 · Return. In Paris around 17:00.

Is it for me?

If you like palaces but not crowds, yes. With children it works well: the garden is big, the estate's self-service restaurant has high chairs and the château takes two hours. Without a car, you can do half the plan: train to Melun and the 9 km bike route to Vaux; Blandy is then left out.