He has a church inside that puts many cathedrals to shame. It’s huge…
Everything is decorated to the extreme, even the doors…
The rooms themselves are exceptional…
And of course, Louis is everywhere. Whether it is a painting, a bust, or his emblem on the doors…
Here is the famous Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. I also included one of the drawing rooms of War and Peace on either end…
Right off the Hall of Mirrors is the King’s bedchamber. At first I was a little surprised by this, but apparently Versailles is the King’s residence for public functions. He held court at Versailles, entertained ambassadors at Versailles, and held councils at Versailles. Louis once said, “We must be there for the public.” By public, he meant only the nobles of course. A few other lucky souls might get into court, but for the most part Louis had Versailles built in order to keep the nobles occupied and entertained. Not to mention that they were easier to keep an eye on when they were all at Versailles and he could play them off one another. The downside to this was he was in the public eye from the moment he got up to the moment he went to bed. There were people waiting outside his chambers o greet him after he woke, and they stayed near until bedtime. Despite the nice bed, it must have been a bit oppressive…
It probably didn’t help that the Queen had the same deal, only her bedchamber was separate from his.
Not very romantic, but it saved Marie Antoinette for a while. She escaped out the little door in the corner that you see in the picture above. I mentioned Marie Antoinette for another reason as well. Louis XIV was not the only king to occupy Versailles. It would have been a huge waste. Every king and emperor that followed also took up residence at Versailles at least some of the time. Each left his mark as well.
Here is the room of Napoleon…
Downstairs are the apartments of the Grand Dauphin and his family. The Grand Dauphin was the heir apparent, and unfortunately for the one most commonly referred to by that title, he never became king. Louis XIV ruled for a long time and outlived his son. It was actually his grandson who became Louis XV as a young child. The chief guardsman actually had to pick him up and carry him during the coronation because the robes were so elaborate the boy couldn’t walk. The apartments of the Grand Dauphin were not as elaborate, and felt more private. I especially liked the Dauphin’s private library, which had a wonderful view of the gardens…
Speaking of which, that was my next destination. It only takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get through the palace proper. One last picture in the courtyard…
And I was off to the huge gardens. Apparently the gardens and grounds used to be 8,000 hectares. Now they are only 800. That is still huge beyond reason, but the effect is as magnificent as the palace itself, if not more so…
You get the idea, this is where your day can slip away from you, it certainly did for me. Thank goodness it wasn’t raining. About a kilometer in the distance are the private palaces of the kings and queens. They are actually famous as the Domain de Marie Antoinette, as she was very fond of the Petit and the Grand Trianon. I liked them a lot too. Perhaps it was the absence of masses of people, the less overwhelming surroundings, or the gardens. Probably some combination thereof.
Imagine if all of that was your private, not public, palace J I ran into a friend, another law student who hadn’t cleared out yet, and we went back to Paris, and had a few beers while watching the world cup games. A down to earth ending for a day spent in the clouds with the legacy of the French royalty.
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