Château de la Muette

The Château de la Muette sits behind a high stone wall, recognizable by the sweeping slate roofs and white stone facade that mimic the style of eighteenth-century hunting lodges. This current structure replaced older royal residences where monarchs once gathered for stag hunts in the neighboring forest. In seventeen eighty-three, the brothers Montgolfier launched the first manned hot air balloon flight from these grounds. Queen Marie Antoinette watched the balloon drift silently over Paris while the king cheered from the garden walls.