Versailles: Lifestyles of the Rich and Monarchial

After our wretchedly hot walk through the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte the day before, we were not quite prepared to for wet and blustery weather the day we visited Versailles. 

 And as much as we expected to see opulence and wealth on our trip to Versailles, were were not prepared for the extent and sheer magnitude of it all.

Care for a peek inside?

Keep in mind, that Versailles, once a small hunting lodge, was transformed into the gargantuan regal masterpiece it is today in the late 17th century, costing half of France's GNP at the time!

The golden Royal Gate is brand new.  The original gold gate disappeared, not surprisingly during the French Revolution, and was just replaced last year.  It is covered with 100,000 gold leaves and cost France 5 million Euros to replace.  It definitely makes a statement!

The gate wasn't the only thing that was gilded. So were the gables and roof tops, and anything else that needed a little perking up.

Let the tour begin.

The story of Versailles is the story of one man and one woman.  He begins the story (and consumes most of it) and she ends it... abruptly.  He is King Louis XIV, the unforgettable and notorious self proclaimed Sun King, and the more I learned about him, the more amazed I was!

Here is a large painting of Versailles in its glory days.  It looks like the King and his processional are approaching the gates of the royal palace.  Look at the extent of it and the grounds!  Versailles was a busy place, at any one time housing as many as 5,ooo nobles.

The first series of rooms we went through contained artwork, mainly portraits of the royal families, and large windows with views overlooking the gardens (only a very tiny part of the gardens, as we soon came to discover.)

I loved this sweet picture of a lucky little girl blowing bubbles with her adorable puppy.

But mostly there were a lot of paintings and sculptures of this guy, King Louis XIV.  (And it seems that even when the pictures weren't supposed to be him, they still looked like him!)  His likeness was EVERYWHERE, and that is no understatement!  If ever there was a man who thought highly of himself, it was King Louis! 

You think I'm kidding?  It was to dark to get a picture, but just as an example, there was one huge picture - it took up an entire wall.  It was your typical religious painting of Mary and baby Jesus, and adoring wise men, saints, and monks, all bowing down in praise and honor.  Only they weren't bowing down to the baby Jesus, as you might expect.  It the middle of the painting there was a painting of a big gilded frame and inside the frame was a portrait of good ol' Louis himself.  All the wise men, saints, and monks were kneeling down and praising HIM, his portrait!  Even Mary was pointing, and directing the Baby Jesus' gaze toward to king!  I was flabbergasted at the nerve of that guy!  

Does that give you some idea of this character that they called the Sun King?

 

OK, here is another example.  This is the resident chapel where King Louis and his court held mass every morning at 10am.  When the organ and musicians began to play, King Louis and his family would step onto this balcony to look down and worship the golden alter below while the lowly nobles down below kneeled, with their back to the alter, and looked up and worshiped him!  WHAT!?!   

Versailles is a pagan temple built to glorify Louis XIV, and this chapel is a mere tip of the hat to that "other" God.

Versailles was to epitome of Humanism, where a man was vaulted to almost the status of God himself, and Louis was the personification of all good human qualities - at least that was what he was working so hard to portray.

In the Hercules Drawing Room, a large painting of Christ at a Venetian party dominates.  Parties were held in this room, and Christ was always a guest of the King, it seems.

On the ceiling of the Venus room, dedicated to Love (and Lust!).  The was THE place to cavort!

And guess who this is?  King Louis dressed like a Roman Emperor, of course.

Oh look, and there he is again in the Diana room where they used to play pool. (Gee, I wonder who always won?)  This sculpture is by Bernini.

Actually, King Louis was a genius statesman, and all of his gaming and leisure activities were all a part of his political strategy known as "the domestication of the nobility."  King Louis invited all the nobles to court as often as possible and kept them all busy playing games, partying, dancing, gambling, and enjoying court life.  By distracting the nobles as much as possible, he was free to run the government his way.  He lent money to the those losing in blackjack, to keep them indebted to him, and did all he could to keep feeding the addiction of those hooked on the good life.

Here is the king's bed.  Well, not his real bed.  This is the king's "official" bedroom, his public one, as opposed to his private one.  You see, every morning the public would be invited into this room to watch the Sun King rise to warm France with his glory, and spread his warmth throughout the land, just like the sun.  The nobles would be privileged to stand behind balustrades as they watched the Sun King rise from his bed, and applaud with delight as he ate his royal breakfast.

  Then in the evening, all would gather again to watch the Sun set, as the King retired into his "bed" for the night.  

Give...me...a...BREAK!  UGH!

In his "official" bedroom, was a portrait of his "official" family.  He had others, no doubt.

We played a lot of "I Spy King Louis" at Versailles (it is very easy to play).  Can you spy Louis?  He is there on the shield protecting Lady France as she hurls thunderbolts at her enemies

Out the window it looked gloomy and cold.  We were glad to be indoors.

Inside, it was anything but gloomy when we turned the corner and walked into the famous Hall of Mirrors.  It was like the sun was shining inside!

There is only one word to describe this place - OPULENT!

In this very long corridor, 17 huge mirrors stand opposite 17 huge windows and reflect the view of the gardens below.    Back then, mirrors were a great luxury, and the likes of this had never been seen before!

Imagine the grand balls that were held here - hoop skirts, powered wigs and powered faces whirling around to lively music.

Finally, and opportunity to get a picture of myself.  This is what I looked like during the whole trip.

Can you imagine what faces have admired themselves in these mirrors?

The details were as spectacular as the room in its entirety.

Wow!

Imagine this place lit by thousands of glowing candlesticks!



Between the mirrors and windows were a just a few crystal chandeliers and candelabras.

Brilliant!

Directly behind the hall of Mirrors, and in the exact center of Versailles, is the king's actual bedroom, the one he actually slept in at night, and awoke to the rising sun in the East each morning.

The royal balcony of the royal bedroom.  I love the graphic black and white stonework on the floor of the courtyard.

There was no doubt who slept here.

And it was the bedroom door of this room, that a terrified Marie Antoinette came banging on that terrible night of the revolution, begging her husband, the king to protect her, as the people stormed the palace.  The next morning, it was on this very balcony, where the King Louis XVI acknowledged the end of the monarchy to the angry mob who filled the courtyard before being dragged away, with his lovely wife, to prison.

A view of the bedroom balcony for the outside.

Apparently, things were sometimes gloomy, and the sun sometimes didn't shine, even in Versailles.

More views of the gardens.

The queen had her own bedroom, of course.  19 princes were born here, always in front of a crowd of onlookers to witness to their blue bloodedness.  I'm sure the queens loved that!

The room was redecorated by it's last resident - Marie Antoinette.  

Now that girl has taste!

I think I need one of these over my bedroom doorway - to make it clear just who sleeps there.

In the coronation room a humongous painting shows what happened when the monarchy was done away and replaced by, what else, an emperor.  Here Napoleon is actually coronating himself.  The gaul!  And I thought only the Sun King could be so arrogant!  Boy, France sure knows how to produce them, doesn't she?

Another wing houses the very long Hall of Battles with it's beautiful vaulted sunlit ceilings,

and lined with huge oils depicting every important French battle from Joan of Arc to Napoleon.


But the Palace of Versailles is only half the story.  No visit to Versailles would be complete without a visit to the gardens.

To the left of the main gardens, and a terrace below is the Orangerie.  

As proof that King Louis had the divine right to rule, he had to show that he could even control nature.  He could even grow oranges in chilly France. 

Orange trees in planters were hauled out of greenhouses  on sunny days, and hauled back in on chilly evenings.  A THOUSAND of them. Everyday!  That is insane!

The Oreangerie was my favorite garden of Versailles.
Famished, we stopped to have a picnic in the gardens, our usual meal of baguettes, cheese, salami, and peaches, finished off with a bit of chocolate, of course.

While we were nibbling away someone would invariably walk by and say "bon appitit!"  I love France!

With full stomachs we were ready for a jaunt through the gardens of Versailles, just as the clouds rolled away, luckily. 

Here is my favorite view of the Royal Drive.  The gardens expand literally as far as the eye can see.  See that "T" shaped Grand Canal in the background?  It is a mile long!  Maybe that gives you and idea of the enormity of this place.

I loved the sculpted hedges, in their various shapes, all lined up!

Normally the gardens are free, but there was a fee on the afternoon we were there because they had music pumped into the gardens.  It seemed silly at first to have to pay to hear the music,

but it really was magical to walk through these gardens to the sounds of beautiful classical music.  It really added another wonderful dimension that I really enjoyed!  The sights, and sounds, of Versailles.

In early September the leaves were just starting to turn, and it was beautiful!  I can just imagine this place in full fall color.

A detail of a giant urn.

The sculpted plants gave great texture to the garden.

A pleasant walk down the Royal Drive.

Nestled in the trees is the Colonnade.  King Louis, chagrined that France lacked in Roman ruins, decided to have his own built here where he and his royal cohorts dressed in togas and pretended to be the ancient Romans among spouting fountains and Roman sculptures.  Versailles was like a giant land of make believe.

The Apollo fountain shows Louis XIV (who else?) as Apollo, the Sun god, rising with his chariot in his journey across the sky.  When we were there the fountains were not on. There were originally 1500 fountains in these gardens, and most of them were only turned on when the king walked by.  This one was the exception.  It was on all the time for the pleasure of those watching it from the palace.

Beyond the fountain was the Grand Canal.  King Louis love Venice, so he decided to bring Venice into his own backyard by constructing his very own Grand Canal.  He brought in several gondoliers with their boats straight from Venice to give his noble friends rides up and down the canal.  Again, Louis gets what Louis wants.  Period.

Hidden far back in a grove of trees was the Trianon area, the retreat where the royal would go when life at Versailles grew a bit hectic.  

This was the Grand Trianon, the smaller, less sumptuous private residence of the King.

It seems downright rustic after viewing the interiors of the palace of Versailles.

I thought it was beautiful!

As the political situation in France got more and more dicey, the kings spent more and more time hidden away out here.

The Trianon had their very own gardens, and it is said that the flowers were changed daily to meet the King's pleasure.

I would love to sit by this window and indulge in a book, wouldn't you?

They wiled away their days playing games and cards.

A little toy carriage for some spoiled royal children.

While the Palace of Versailles was all about King Louis XIV, this area is just filled with the images, and tastes of the wife of his heir and great grandson (Louis XVI), Marie Antoinette.

"M. A."  I want my own monogram like that!

The Petite Trianon was given to her by her husband to do with as she would.

Marie Antoinette was not comfortable in the busy, stuffy palace of Versailles, and so created a simpler, quieter place where she would feel more at home.

She looked much better with a head, I think.

Despite her bad cake-eating reputation held by the unhappy masses, it seems that Marie was a quiet girl who was desperate to have a quiet, happy, normal life, and tried the best way she knew how to get it.  She even had her own working "farm" built on the property, and spend much of her time "farming" it (actually, she ran around and supervised the affairs of the farm, in a plain white muslin dress and a straw hat - but not really getting her fingers in the soil, as you can imagine.)

I thought the Petite Trianon that she so carefully decorated was lovely, with pretty feminine details, without being overly gaudy.

Her bedroom was sweet and tranquil.  I'd live here!

Her small sitting room was pure grace.

In the gardens behind the Petite Trianon is the French Pavilion, a playhouse of sorts for Marie Antoinette.

It this little gem of a building Marie and a few of her closest friends would listen to music and enjoy the sweet life out amidst the garden.

It was her very own special little place, kind of like my craft room!

The temple of Love was the place to come if you were courting.

There is cupid, carving his arrow out of a club.  Watch out!

I walked out to the Temple of Love all by myself. (Dennis didn't want to walk that far.)  It's not quite the same without that special someone by your side.

It was getting late, and we still had the LONG walk back through the gardens.

Mom's pedometer said that we walked over 10 miles that day.  I can verify that.

Dennis messing with me while I am trying to take a serious photograph.  (And my revenge is posting this picture.)  I love that guy!

Once there was a snowman...

Turtles, lizards, and frogs in the fountain.

By the time we returned to the palace, the crowds had disappeared.

Behind her is the hall of mirrors.  Can you see the reflection of the great mirrors inside?

Versailles was tremendous , from the sheer vastness of the gardens, to the smallest details.

Now the clouds that were there in the morning were gone, and the sun was low in the sky making the golden gates just gleam so much more that they had when we had crossed them that morning. 

Exquisite!

I can safely say that I have never seen anything so pretentious, so over-the-top materialistic, as I saw in Versailles!  No wonder the people revolted!  It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Even the Sun King himself couldn't stop the sun from setting on Versailles.