Paris1972-Versailles2003

I have come into a real find in my memorable City of Versailles, actually the Château de Versailles of many nice memories ,see my other posts on it, This is in my former Yvelines dept 78 of the Île de France region ,and my belle France. I have condense several posts into this one and in my black and white series, no pictures, This is just a bit of the story of this awesome grand palace, Therefore, here is my take on the grandeur of the Château de Versailles !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

I have live almost 10 years here, and love it. Most come to Paris, many think is an annex to Paris, but this is Versailles, royal, grand, historic, the foundation of a Nation. It is here when the French constitution needs to be discussed ,changed, amended, all the French parliament and President must move here by constitutional law, and Versailles becomes a de facto Capital of France, last happenned in 2009. The Kingdom was here and the Republic started here.

It has many attributes, friendlier, smaller, nice, beautiful architecture, lots of history all around  you, royal and republican, but it ,also, has a castle. What a castle, I considered the most beautiful in the world, and many were tried and done copying it. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been done. Thanks to king of the French Louis Philippe I that seeing history goes to nothing, had the brilliant idea of converting it into a museum! as he said, FOR THE GLORY OF FRANCE, So in 1837, the castle became the museum, and the story began for all of us. I got caught up in this museum magna, the most beautiful of them all. A bit of stories, compiled from my time as living there and Friends of the Castle.

First you see the statue of Louis XIV on a horse,  done in 1836! but the base and mount comes from the Louis XVI statue that his brother and later king, Louis XVIII wanted to have in the center of the pl de la Concorde in Paris ,then also call place Louis XVI  instead the statue was transferred here to honor under Louis XIV the great builder of Versailles, and the first you see upon coming to the castle. The moment you walk up to it you see pave stones roads, six alignements of pave stones, to welcome the king and guest to castle; nothing could come here than by invitation of the king, once past it you see the cour de marbre or marble courtyard, done by 1681, and renovated a bit in 1678 to give it a clock crown on top middle of the square, and the windows expanded to seven. Around this clock you have Hercules and Mars figures, and an eagle representing defeated nations of Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire during the war of Holland. You see a hydra snake representing the Grand Alliance raised to combat France, and a bull symbol of glorious pass over the Rhine in 1672.  You have the statues in the cour de marbre representing  Africa and America on the south side of it, facing the Asia and Europe on the other side. Here too you find on the facades of the cour de marbres 84 busts done in 1685, after heroes of antiquities such as Marc Antony,Jules Cesar,Constantine, etc. Here you see the Cour des Cerfs et Degré du Roi, intimate spaces of Louis XV, it has three floors invisible from the cour des marbre or the cour royale, it serves to do libraries, cabinets rooms, and dining rooms for Louis XV could received his intimes friends. There was a dining room in the 3rd floor opening into vast terraces,and on 1754 a stair degré du roi was done to access the apartments of the royal guards from the cour royale.

But , lets go inside, ok. The wonderful Salon de Mars, see the wonderful painting, La Famille de Darius aux pieds d’Alexandre (1660) with the eyes of Louis XIV at Chateau de Fontainebleau done by Charles Le Brun, who had done Vaux-le-Vicomte,and  also did the galerie d’Apollon at Louvre and considered the best French painter of the 17C. See the marble floors between the Salon de Mars and Salon de Diane in the Grand Appartement du roi; known as the Versailles style parquets, done first in 1684 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.  On the ceiling of the Salon d’Apollon see the Apollon conduisant le char du soleil (1671-1678) just to imitate the father in law known in Spain as the planet king, so Louis XIV (married to Spanish queen Maria Thérese or in Spanish Maria Teresa, and where all Spanish bourbons kings descend today such as Felipe VI) . Move on to the same salon de Diane to see the work on the doors by the stairs de Maréchaux ,see the reliefs on the doors, the stairs was destroyed in 1752, the reliefs stayed on.  It is now a small replica there and copy at the Chateau d’Herrenchiemsee in Germany.

At the north wing, on the rooms of the 17C, you see the great courts of the portraits of woman of the court of Louis XIV; It is the room of beauties done in 1663, such as the duchess of La Valliére, Henriette of England, Princesse  de Soubise or Princess of Monaco, Marie Mancini, or Anne Marie Martinozzi; lovely indeed. At the cour de l’Hymen by the stair of the queen you see a trophy en metal cover with copper and lead, showing the marriage of Louis XIV to his cousin Marie-Thérese d’Austria to reconcile the quarrels between France and Spain done at St Jean de Luz in signing the treaty of the Pyrénées in 1659. You see the fatality of queens at the ceilings of the antichambre de grand couvert, grand appartement de la reine , beautiful. Go on to the first antichambre du roi done in 1686, vast and beautiful.

The magnificent galerie des glaces done in 1681-1684, with 73 meters long and a canopy of almost 1000 square meters, as well as the ceilings of the salon de l’Abondance , grand appartement du roi. Here see the wonderful office cabinet furniture done in 1708. See the Salon de l’oeil de Boeuf, on the second antichambre in the appartement du roi; white ceilings done in 1701 but richly decorated along the walls. See the wonderful  bedroom of Louis XIV at the appartement du roi. Here the king died on Sept 1st, 1715 after 60 years of reign. There is a big oval encrusted painting showing Louis XV offrering peace to Europe in 1729 in the Salon de la Paix(peace) that follows the Salon de la Guerre(war) to the Grand Appartements. You,also, see the calendars for the anniversaires of the chapel of the king, see at the Sacristie des Musiciens near the tribunes of the chapel done by 1770. You can see the bedroom of Louis XV by the interior appartement du roi,the king uses it from age 27,and he died there May 10, 1774, Louis XVI continue its use, one of the places in the castle where few could entered.

See the wonderful dining room or salle à manger des retours de chasse in the interior appartement du roi; done in 1750 and held until 1769 the diners after his returns from hunting.  There is a nice room call the Cabinet de l’appartement de Madame de Pompadour, in the small appartement du roi in the attic, on top of the salon de la guere. Here many rdv was held by the king and woman including putting here Mme de Pompadour, (real name Jeanne Antoinette Poisson), entered in the courts of Versailles in 1745, and lived her first five years in the castle here, she even had a small chapel  once becoming a duchesse in 1752, she takes a jesuist as confessor in 1756, and while she was sick the king allows her to finish here in 1764, the only person of non royal blood to died in the castle, the king later said, ” Here is all the honors that I can give her, a friend of 20 years”.

You can see the library, in the appartement du Dauphin, or heir to the throne,  done in 1750, served for he of Louis XV and Louis XVI. The Grand Dauphin died at 49 in 1711 four years before Louis XIV while his son Philippe V or Felipe V ascend to the throne of Spain. You can see a wonderful pending clock  or the pendule astronomique de passemant  (1730-1740) at the Cabinet de la Pendule, interior appartement du roi.  Given to the royal academy of sciences in 1749 it put here by Louis XV in 1754. It is programmable to be used until 9999! At the time it gave the time in the kingdom of France. You can see the library and bathroom of Madame du Barry, petit appartement du roi (second floor french ,3rd floor US), before becoming the favorite of king Louis XV, she was a saleslady in a boutique n the rue Saint Honoré de Paris. Louis XV keeps her at the age of 25 when she came to lived in the castle. In kicking out Madame du Barry by Louis XVI he takes over the room and you now see the Grand Cabinet in the appartement du Comte de Maurepas, the advisor to king Louis XVI not a good one after his bad advice  Versailles came from being the birthplace of the monarchy to its tomb. Another favorite is the Salle à manger des Porcelaines, or porcelain dining room.  It was the last dining room used by Louis XV  after his hunting runs, and later became a formal dining room under Louis XVI;its in the interior appartement du roi.  Another favorite item is the chandelier or imperiale du lit de Marie Antoinette n the bedroom of the queen. The room has been done exactly as the last day the queen use it on October 6, 1789. Furniture is from 1787 and the bed is from 1769 all renovated. Just think here 19 royal children of France including Louis XV ,and Felipe V of Spain were born. Come to see the Cabinet Doré , interior cabinets of the queen, done in 1783, one of the most beautiful piece of the queen, the harp was done in 1774.

There is a passage from the bedroom of the queen(chambre de la reine)  and the Salon de l’oeil de Boeuf; early on October 6, 1789 the queen was awaken by a large noise, the Parisiens arrives, the Salles des Gardes there was havoc, the room ladies help Marie Antoinette opening the small door to the left of her bed,and she takes leaves by the passages that led to the bedroom of the king. They met there in the passages, while the crowds gather at the cour des marbres and invades the castle. From the king’s bedroom (chambre du roi), La Fayette( he who help the US independance as the Marquis de Lafayette) and a few granadiers battle the insurgents protecting the royals ,while they arrive at the salon de l’Oeil de Boeuf. They needed to leave Versailles… You come to another of my favorites, the Galerie des Batailles or the battle gallery, at the central wing or aile du midi, (1 floor or 2nd Fl US) You see 16 paintings in bronce done from 1834-1836 with engraving of 528 names: 36 princes of the royal house, 10 admirals, 6 connatables,25 mariscals, 33 warriors,18 commanders, and 400 officers dead in combat for France. It describes the military history from Clovis to Napoleon, with 92 busts and 33 paintings of famous battles including the famous USA battle for indepedance at Yorktown.  See the magnificent Porte de l’Hospice des Chevaliers de Saint Jean de Jerusalem; at the salles des Croisades, the door is sculpture in cedar wood and bath of bronze from Rhodes Greece dating from 1512! ,from 1837-1839 the room was embellished with 150 paintings representing the period of the crusades.  Right around there, see the stair or Escalier de l’attique Chimay, to go to the attic Chimay, that extend the one of the queen done during the time of Louis XIV, but the king Louis Philippe, does from 1833-1837 true marble of colors and dust with a paste that gives the impression of seeing glass. The lady in room of Marie Antoinette was to have live here  14 years but actually stayed in the attic of the central wing just behind the glasses of the galerie des batailles/ So her name princess of Chimay,Laure-Auguste de Fitz-James who never lived here but the name stayed on. See the sculptures des Grands Hommes de France, galerie de Pierre, north wing 1 fl or aile nord. four galleries of stones, done in 1776 for the grand galerie du louvre but by Louis XVI here.

The project of a museum to the great man of France is the idea of the Assamblée Générale that in 1791 starts the Central Museum of the Arts, and on 1797  Versailles welcome the special museum of the French School of Arts. The most remarkable of the statues sculpture here is that made in marble of Joanne d’Arc done by Marie d’Orléans second daughter of the king of the French Louis Philippe I done in 1837.

The French Republic is ,also,here, the aile du midi or the middle wing served until 1958 to hold the National elections to hold the parlamentarians that came here to name a President of France.  You see the monograms FF as not to confused the R with the republican party of France, see it at the corniche de la Salle du Congrés du Parlement de Versailles, aile d midi or middle wing. Same wing, see the Pavillon de Provence, the Bureau or cabinet du Président du Congrés ou l’Investiture. The old salon of the countess of Provence came to be under the IV République Française the working office of the president of the National Assembly or Assamblée Nationale. From the 1879 to 1953 14 presidents of  France were elected here! Now is the lieu of work when the French constitution needs revision,changes or amenmends.

Let me tell you about the Hemicircle of Versailles. This is where France entire parliament and President must come if there are changes in the Constitution to have it approve here per law of the French Republic! It is in the aile de Midi or central wing of the palace, I have it separate for my own, You can think of the democracy in the palace of the royal absolutism, Do not forget that it was here that the parlamentary democracy was born. As from May 5 1789 Louis XVI convenes the General Estates or Etats Généraux in the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs (see post), By June 17 they were auto proclaimed the National Assambly and name it officially by July 9 1789, It was here that the Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizens was created, In this big parlamentary room in the aile du Midi is not visited. The parlamentarians only come when there are changes to the French Constitution so they don’t visit either. When the end of the Second Empire (Napoléon III) the government of Adolph Thiers comes here but stays at the Royal Opera and the Galerie des Glaces serves as dormitory! Also, here in Versailles in 1875 is when the Republic is definitively proclaimed with a bicameral parliament. The senators stayed in the Opera Royal and the deputies or representatives came to the Hemicircle. The first seance takes place March 6 1876 ,however, from June 19 1879 they return to Paris at the Palais Bourbon for the deputies (Assamblée Nationale) and the Palais du Luxembourg of Marie de Médicis  (Senat) for the Senators. The last President of the French Republic elected in Versailles was René Coty in 1953 by the parliament. After the universal suffrage came into being,as today.

I did several post on the gardens so will highlight here the 43 km of aisles, 29 km of trees pretty big where we ran played ball with my sons ,awesome! The Grand Canal, Allée Royale and Basin de Latone were done before the galerie des Glaces just as hunting came first. The Grand Canal has 23 hectares (about 59 acres) and wonderful to go around and the boats ! From the Parterre d’Eau with its bronce statues to the Grand Canal you have what is known as the Grand Perspective , a postcard view ! There on the left side as you enter the Orangerie with its 100 steps stair, For winter the trees goes into the cathedral building for safekeeping , it was built between 1684 and 1688 by Hardouin Mansart, There is an equestrian statue ordered by Colbert in carrera marbre by Le Bernin it is Louis XIV, he did not like it wanted to destroyed but modifications by Girardon inspirant Marcus Curtius a Roman heroe that is thrown to the flames to save the Republic he like it(Little did he know the French Republic!), On a sadder anecdote here trees along were not kept, During the Commune of Paris in 1871 they were sent prisioners here including  Gustave Courbet the painter ! However, when in October the trees needed to be put in, the prisioners were sent elsewhere or executed to make room ! You have several groves (bosquets) where in replacing the bosquet des Sources 32 columns ionic and pilastres of marbre rose bleu and violet enclosed in 28 white vases was done, the Colonnade. You have the bosquet des Bains d’Apollon, bosquet des Rocailles, aka as salle de bal, the bosquet de l’Arc de Triomphe with the fountain of triumphant France, and the terrifying sculpture in the bosquet de l‘Encelade,are some of my favorites. You also, have several basins (bassins) such as the Bassin d’Apollon and the char d’Apollon or Apolo’s chariot basin, the bassin de Latone wiht its goddes first wife of Jupiter, Diana link to the moon and Apolo god of the sun. You know to feed the 34 basins, 2000 fountains and 700 water jets Louis XIV tried to change the flow of the waters of the Eure river, made a barrack in the Bievre, and build the Machine de Marly just for the Grande Eaux of Versailles. You have tunnels underground that are taken care daily as they are originals ! At the Bassin de Latone, the fountain has cowweb tangle of pipes soldered with lime and stamped with the fleur-de-lis. Another nice one is the bassin de Neptune god of the seas and the oceans the biggest basin in Versailles, Bassin du Dragon, is another nice one we like.

You come to the more known already written on them such as the Grand Trianon with its beautiful galerie de Cotelle of the 17C, This was called the Trianon of marbres with columns rose opened by Louis XIV in 1688 in company of Madame de Maintenon,The beautiful Salon Rond or round room was the vestibule to the apartments of Louis XIV, And the loggia that connects teh north and central buildings with 8 columns in campan green and red marbre with flat top hidden by a balustrade, Today, the furniture dates from Napoleon Ier that have refurnished after the French revolution. The Grand Trianon becomes too small so Mansart builts the Trianon sous Bois in 1708 for the princess Palatine, and her children, Peter the Great stayed here in 1717 and Napoléon 1er played billiards,and Louis Philippe feast the marriage of his daughter princess Marie with the duke Alexander de Würtemberg, You then enter into the room of the Republic that hosted General De Gaulle between 1962 and 1967 he had it done to host heads of State here such as the Queen of England, Belgian kings, the Shah of Iran, Presidents Nixon and Carter of the USA Also, Brezhnev and Yeltsin USSR.

Then you come to the Petit Trianon my sentimental favorite as it was my grounds to played with my boys and dear late wife Martine, memories forever. The Petit Trianon was built between 1762 and 1769 at the request of Madame de Pompadour, and had three levels in a neo classic style. However, it was Marie Antoinette who gave it the personal touch, the rooms are as when she left them on October 5 1789. You can visit the Queen’s bedroom , A beautiful escalier d’honneur or main staircase and the Chapel and the little theater, The garden has a wonderful temple à l’Amour or temple of love done in 1778 by Richard Mique. All white marbre with 12 Corinthian columns with a dome that house a replica of the Cupid cutting his bow in the club of Hercules done by Louis Philippe Mouchy. The little theater is between the hill and the English garden and connected to the Petit Trianon by a gallery of green wood opened in 1780, one of the most beautiful historical theater of Europe ! Indeed it is!!!Inside is gold white and black with the white marbre fake, the machine is from Boulet the same of the Opera de Paris that make it easy to change scenes and decorations, There Marie Antoinette creates her own group of performers called the troop of lords, She plays as much as in front of 200 works of Sedaine, Grétry, Favart, or Rousseau, It was known that she said, « here I am no longer a queen ,but me » There is a nice belvedere with an artificial pond and a pavillion of music in an octagonal layout done by Richard Mique in 1778.

You come now to the Hameau of Marie Antoinette, which by the porte Saint Antoine was the closest to come by car and walk in free to the gardens as we did. The fashion of nature (as today?) inspired by Jean Jacques Rousseau prompts Marie Antoinette to do this hamlet, built between 1783 and 1785 again by Richard Mique. The main building has two sections, on the right the house of the queen and on the left the house of billiards connected by a gallery in wood from where the queen could see her village. On the tour Malborough you have fishing material, At the north of the Hameau you could connect with the Arboretum de Chévreloup, After the French revolution Napoléon renovates the Hameau for Marie Louise the niece of Marie Antoinette that will furnished them while demolishing the builldings in bad conditions.

In 1607, Louis XIII at the age of 6 hunts for the first time with his father king Henri IV, Years later ,he buys the land and a hill in 1624, and soon find it small, So he ordered Philibert Le Roy to enlarge it from 1631 to 1634, king Louis XIV inherits from his father the taste of hunting and from his mother Anne of Austria  the refinement, and he loves  Versailles more so than Paris and the chaos (already!). He decided to enlarge it again in 1660 the year of his marriage with Maria Teresa Infanta of Spain. The work of the new castle was given to the old crew of Vaux le Vicomte, that is architect Louis Le Vau, gardener André Le Nôtre, and painter Charles Le Brun from here the Versailles style is born, In 1664 there is a big party that shows Versailles in the future, « the pleasures of the enchanted city » Moliére plays Tartulle in three acts made a scandal, By 1682 the Court and government are installed definitively in Versailles.

The Château de Versailles is 63 154 sq meters of superficie (almost 16 acres) with 50 000 open to the public,130 000 sq meters of rooftiles, 2300 rooms, 1944 windows, 352 chimneys, 67 stairs, Inside 2900 furniture and objects of art, 7000 paintings, 1500 designs, 17000 engravings, 2100 sculptures, and 6000 old books, In the garden 55 basins, 600 water jets, 350 000 trees, 1500 orange trees, 350 000 flowers planted every year, Normal years can have 15 million visitors ! The creators of Versailles are Jules Hardouin Mansart, the architect, Charles Le Brun, painter /decorator, André Le Nôtre the gardener, Ange Jacques Gabriel the master builder, Robert de Cotte, the architect after Mansart, Richard Miqué, the last architect.

History always plays a rôle here at Versailles, It was here that Queen Victoria visit in 1855 ; it is in the gallery of mirrors that the German empire was founded on January 18 1871, the palace houses the National assembly of France and the government of Adolph Thiers during the commune when the two chambers stayed in Versailles until 1879, In 1919 the treaty of Versailles putting an end to the Great War or WWI is signed in the Gallery of Mirrors, Until 1953, the Council elects the President from here, And today, the Parliament meets here in congress while changes or adjustment needs to be done to the Constitution.

The official Château de Versailles: https://en.chateauversailles.fr/

The Versailles tourist office on the palace:  https://www.versailles-tourisme.com/chateau-de-versailles.html

The city of Versailles on its heritage:  https://www.versailles.fr/65/decouvrir-versailles.htm

There you go folks, a lovely beautiful grand palace in a magnificent City ,my former home my unforgettable Versailles. The City will never be forgotten from my mind, sublime, tops and glad to find these gems to share with the world ; Versailles is it.  An unique piece of architecture and gorgeous gardens in the sublime Château de Versailles . Again, hope you enjoy this post on the grandeur of the Château de Versailles !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!