May 23 - Versailles

Today we came to the realization that current high tech billionaires do not even compare to the wealth and power of 17^th century French kings.  We went to the Palace of Versailles, the residences of the French kings Louis XIII through Louis XVI.  The original residence, built from 1631 to 1634, was primarily a hunting lodge and private retreat for Louis XIII  and his family. Under the guidance of Louis XIV, it was transformed into an immense and extravagant complex surrounded by stylized English and French gardens.  It has been said that every detail of its construction was meant to glorified the king. The main reason for building this palace was that he felt that the Louvre in Paris was too small for his residence.

As we approached the palace, we were greeted by an enormous gate that is covered in gold leaf.  The palace itself consists of three huge buildings that housed the king’s residence and his government official’s offices.

Courtyard to the Palace of Versailles

The King’s apartments and state rooms are all spectacular with massive ceiling paintings, gold trim, and the best tapestries and furnishings. The size of these rooms are beyond our wildest imagination.

At the beginning of the tour you go through seven massive rooms that served as administrative offices for the king.  Each was decorated differently and was designed to reflect Greek or Roman mythology.

Next you enter the banquet hall which is known as the Hall of Mirrors. It is the length of several football fields.  The hall is covered with glass, gold and paintings and is lighted by dozens of expansive chandeliers.  There are three hundred and fifty-seven mirrors that decorate the seventeen arches opposite the windows. In a more recent historical note this is where the armistice was signed to the end the First World War and unfortunately set the stage for the beginning of the Second World War.

Kings Bedroom

Hall of Mirrors

You then enter the King's chambers.  There are two offices and the main bedroom.  The King's bedroom has opulent decor of gold and silver on a crimson background.  The walls are filled with masterpieces by famous artists from the 17th century.

You then enter the Queen's chambers.  When the palace was invaded by the rioters during the French revolution, Marie-Antoinette managed to escape from them through a little door on the left of the alcove, going into a corridor which gave her access to the Queen’s internal apartments, a dozen small rooms reserved for her private life and her servants.

Queen's bedroom

Outside is a huge garden that defined what all other European palaces strived to emulate. It would take over an hour to walk from the palace to its furthest corner.  The garden consists mostly of trees and sculpted shrubs. There are not a lot of flower beds in bloom, even at this late spring date.

Royal Gardens

At the back of the garden is a small palace known as the Grand Trianon.  This was the hunting chateau of Louis XIV.  Its gardens incorporate more flower beds than the main gardens of the Royal Palace.

Garden in the Grand Trianon

Further back from the Grand Trianon are a series of buildings that Marie-Antoinette used to escape from the royal court and live her fantasy life with her various lovers.  The most famous of the these buildings is the Temple of Love.

Temple of Love

This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Paris area.  When we arrived there was a ninety minute wait to get into the palace.  This was with the museum pass which allows you to go to the front of the line.  I think that we should have gone to the gardens first and then visited the palace later in the afternoon.

I felt like a fool when we first got there.  I went to take a picture and got an error message on the camera.  I then realized that I had taken the memory card out of the camera to download the contents to the laptop and hadn't placed it back into the camera.  Luckily there was a store on the way to the palace, where I got a replacement card at a very ridiculous price.

The subway system and the RER train, which is equivalent of Toronto’s GO system, is very efficient but the ability to actually get a ticket defies belief.  You need to have coins to purchase a ticket at the kiosk as most of them do not accept paper money.  They will accept a credit cards, but not North American credit cards. Most of the time the information booths where you can also purchase tickets are not staffed.

After waiting in a long line at the Versailles station we finally got to the ticket kiosk, where a young lady came up to us and asked us if she could jump the lineup and get her ticket ahead of us.  Of course we told her no and that she should wait in line like everyone else.  She then started to bat her eyes and look very sad in an attempt to use her sex appeal to sway me.  It was so ludicrous that I was reminded of multiple Bugs Bunny / Loony Tunes cartoons.