04 May 2011 – Paris (Wednesday)

Today we are going to head off to Versailles.  This seems very simple since we have the Paris Museum pass so getting in will be free but which train do we take.  We have the Eurail pass so that also will be free as soon as we figure out which one of the several railway stations in Paris to head.   The Lonely Planet indicated one railway station so we went online to find out the time schedules – only to learn they had no schedules available.   So we did our research to discover another station identified as the one to go to – which is the one we did go to and we did find the train. 

Then we headed off to the metro where I know our passes have expired so we have to get new daily passes and to do so means we have to go to the far end of the metro station.  Ok, no problem, and now to figure out what to buy – one day or full day – and since we did not want to fuss with getting tickets all day and we were not sure how many trains we would have to take, we got full day tickets.  In retrospect that may not have been the best idea.  Individual passes cost 1.9 and the full day was 8.30.  So it only pays if you plan to take more than 4 trips.  However at the time it was easier just to buy a day pass since we were not prepared and had not found out individual costs before arriving at the station.  Next time we will research online before buying.  Regardless it only cost us an extra few euros.

We got to the railway station and found the train we needed to take.  It was free for us.  So we arrive in the city of Versailles with a beautiful and comfortable (and relaxing) 30 minute ride on the train.  The train station is really approximately 1 ½ kms from the Palace so we had a hike before we even started the day.  But at one point we turned the corner and saw the Palace for the first time.  Wow is all I could say regarding the size and the sparkle of gold decorations with a off-white exterior.  Along the top of the Palace – as we could see from the front – were many large and decorative statutes.  However the main road leading to the front gates is currently being re-cobbled so there were a lot of equipment, fences and workers to manoeuvre around.  Regardless we managed to find the front gates and walk through to have a expansive view of a HUGE building – and this was only the front – the wings and backside were behind.

We have the Museum Pass so we are assured we can avoid the line ups and go directly into the Palace.  However we learned very quickly that everyone had pre-purchased their tickets and the line up snaked up and down the front courtyard and it was over one hour for us to get through the ticket gate.  The good side of this is that we met a couple of women (one from Wyoming and one from Alaska) named Kathy and Sue.  We had a fantastic chat with them and Sue is a retired teacher so we even have lots to talk about in that aspect too.  Ok, a little bit about Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France.  In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles.  Before the construction of the Palace, there was a small royal hunting lodge. This structure would become the core of the new palace.

Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles.  He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. Beginning in 1661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun began a detailed renovation and expansion of the château.  This was done to fulfill Louis XIV's desire to establish a new centre for the royal court.  Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles.  The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682.

The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.  Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.  For Versailles, there were four distinct building campaigns (after minor alterations and enlargements had been executed on the château and the gardens in 1662-1663), all of which corresponded to Louis XIV’s wars (Bluche, 1986, 1991; Verlet, 1985).

After the death of the Louis XIV in 1715, the five-year old king Louis XV, the court, and the Régence government of Philippe d’Orléans returned to Paris. 

During the reign of Louis XV, Versailles underwent transformation, but not on the scale that had been seen during the reign of Louis XIV.  When the king and the court returned to Versailles in 1722, the first project was the completion of the Salon d'Hercule.  Significant among Louis XV’s contributions to Versailles were the petit appartement du roi;  the appartements de Mesdames, the appartement du dauphin, and the appartement de la dauphine on the ground floor;  and the two private apartments of Louis XV – petit appartement du roi au deuxième étage (later transformed into the appartement de Madame du Barry) and the petit appartement du roi au troisième étage – on the second and third floors of the palace. The crowning achievements of Louis XV’s reign were the construction of the Opéra and the Petit Trianon (Verlet, 1985).

The gardens remained largely unchanged from the time of Louis XIV; only the completion of the Bassin de Neptune between 1738 and 1741 was the most important legacy Louis XV made to the gardens. Towards the end of his reign, Louis XV, under the advice of Ange-Jacques Gabriel, began to remodel the courtyard façades of the palace.  With the objective revetting the entrance of the palace with classical façades, Louis XV began a project that was continued during the reign of Louis XVI, but which did not see completion until the 20th century.

On 21 June 1791, Louis XVI was arrested at Varennes after which the Assemblée nationale constituante accordingly declared that all possessions of the royal family had been abandoned.   While Napoléon did not reside in the château, apartments were, however, arranged and decorated for the use of the empress Marie-Louise.  The emperor chose to reside at the Grand Trianon.  The Bourbon Restoration saw little activity at Versailles.  Areas of the gardens were replanted but no significant restoration and modifications of the interiors were undertaken, despite the fact that Louis XVIII would often visit the palace and walk through the vacant rooms.  Charles X chose the Tuileries Palace over Versailles and rarely visited his former home. 

With the Revolution of 1830 and the establishment of the July Monarchy, the status of Versailles changed. In March 1832, the Loi de la Liste civile was promulgated, which designated Versailles as a crown dependency. Like Napoléon before him, Louis-Philippe chose to live at the Grand Trianon; however, unlike Napoléon, Louis-Philippe did have a grand design for Versailles.

In 1833, Louis-Philippe proposed the establishment of a museum dedicated to “all the glories of France”.   The museum was officially inaugurated on 10 June 1837.  

There is not much I can say to describe the opulence of the rooms and decorations within.  The size of every room is huge but looks smaller than reality because of the very high ceilings.  All the ceilings are seen as platforms for incredible paintings.  Everywhere you find ornaments and decorations with silver and gold (paint or gold mouldings I can not tell) but it is breath taking.  The crowds in many areas  made it difficult to get quality pictures but I finally just accepted that there would be people in the pictures that I have no idea who they are.   The artwork on the walls were well displayed and of course rare and valuable.  After yesterday in the Orsay Gallery I did not spend too much time admiring them. 

The highlights of the Palace would include: the Kings Private Apartment, the Queens Private Apartment, the Hall of Mirrors with the rows of crystal chandeliers, the Chapels of Versailles, the L’Opéra and of course the Gardens with their fountains and water displays.  In center of the gardens is the Grand Canal with large sized ponds at two ends and boats taking gentle rowing cruises.

As we wondered around we realized that there was a second Palace on the grounds to which we could walk (about 1 ½ kms from Versailles) so we decided to go and check out this smaller Palace.  The Grand Trianon was built in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles at the request of Louis XIV, as a retreat for the King and his maîtresse en titre of the time, the marquise de Montespan, and as a place where the King and invited guests could take light meals (collations) away from the strict étiquette of the Court.  From 1703 to 1711, the building was the residence of le Grand Dauphin.  (Heir apparent to the throne.)

Louis XVI brought no structural modifications to the Grand Trianon.   His wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, who preferred the Petit Trianon, gave a few theatrical representations in the galerie des Cotelle.  During the French Revolution of 1789, the Grand Trianon was left to neglect.  At the time of the First French Empire, Napoleon made it one of his residences, and furnished it in the Empire Style.

The next royals to live at Trianon were the King and Queen of the French, Louis Philippe I and his Italian wife Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies; he was a descendant of the Regent Philippe d'Orléans and she was a niece of Marie Antoinette.

A third exhibition for us to enjoy was across the gardens of the Grand Trianon down to the hamlet to the Petit Trianon.  The Petit Trianon was built by the order of Louis XV for his long-term mistress.  Upon his accession to the throne in 1774, the 20-year-old Louis XVI gave the château and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use and enjoyment.  Marie Antoinette would come to the Petit Trianon not only to escape the formality of court life, but also to shake off the burden of her royal responsibilities.  Since all was "de par la Reine" (by order of the Queen), none were permitted to enter the property without the Queen's express permission (not even, it was said, Louis XVI).

A house of intimacy and of pleasure, the building was designed to require as little interaction between guests and servants as possible. To that end, the table in the salles à manger was conceived to be mobile, mechanically lowered and raised through the floorboards so that the servants below could set places sight unseen. The tables were never built, but the delineation for the mechanical apparatus can still be seen from the foundation.

Within the queen's apartment, one discerns Marie Antoinette's incessant need for privacy: the decor of her boudoir displays inventiveness unique to the age, featuring mirrored panels that, by the simple turning of a crank, can be raised or lowered to obscure the windows.

After we had explored the buildings (including the Queens Theatre, the Belevedere, the Rock and the Gretto (a cave that opens upward to the top of a knoll) and may other incredible features of her garden we headed over to the Queens Hamlet.  Between 1783 and 1787, the Hamlet was thus created in the spirit of a true Norman village, with eleven houses spread out around the Big lake.  Five of them were reserved for the use of the Queen and her guests: the Queen’s House, Billiard Room, Boudoir, Mill and Refreshments Dairy.  While four houses were reserved for the occupancy of the peasants: the Farm and its annexes, the Barn, the Dovecote and Preparation Dairy.   One house was reserved for domestic use: the Warming Room, where the dishes were prepared for the dinners given at the Queen’s House or at the Mill.  The Malborough Tower, a sort of beacon towering above the banks of the Big lake, was the point of departure for boat rides or fishing outings.

Ok, as you can see I have done lots of research on this tour which ended up being a very full day and really encompassed 3 museums on one site and we were both really ready to head back to Paris.  We ended up catching the 5:45 pm train and it was around 7 by the time we got back to our room both very exhausted.  What is too bad is that we did not even really see everything possible since we had little time to walk through the extensive and decorative gardens.

We had planned to get out again tonight and go take pictures of the Eiffel Tower with the lights.  However to get good pictures we would have to be there no earlier than 10 pm this time of year and it is about a 30 minutes Metro ride each way.  We were just too tired so sorry to say we have no pictures to share of that – but on the internet there is one so you can see what we missed.