In France they don't seem to have Pirate festivals. However they DO have lots of authentic palaces for such festivities, or Fetes. Vaux le Vicomte is just such a place. The residence of Nicolas Fouquet it preceded Versailles in grandeur. Louis XIV was so taken with the place that it was his inspiration for the rebuilding of his fathers hunting lodge (Versailles. He also had Fouqet arrested by D'Artagnen, the captain of the his Musketeers, and thrown into the prison of Pignerol for life. The "Man in the Iron Mask" was Fouquet's vallet during his imprisonment.
Today the palace is the scene of a yearly festival to commemorate the great Fete that Fouquet held in honor of the king in 1661. It sort of makes the Portland Pirate Festival look quaint.
It is known as the Grand Siècle De Vaux Le Vicomte
We should go.
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