Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was to have entered the clergy, but his teachers judged that he was not fit for that. Employed by the EAUX ET FORETS, he had a revelation, when hearing one of Malherbe's odes, he would be a poet. Taken on at court by Superintendent Fouquet, he obtained a regular stipend and was cosseted by the high society until his death, after the arrest of his patron. The museum has documents about his life and rare editions of his Fables and Stories.