SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17
The morning unfolded from the train window as we passed from the old buildings on the outskirts of Paris, to rows of modern office buildings, low rise apartments to houses nestled in densely-clustered towns in a rolling, hilly landscape. Upon reaching Versailles, formidable stone buildings and a mid-sized city emerged.
Again, we were surprised to find no line when purchasing our tickets for entry into Versailles. The Passport, €20 each, allowed us entry to all the palaces and “the farm” as well as an audio tour, which worked sometimes and didn’t others.
THE PALACE
The palace was the busiest of all the buildings. It was, after all, Saturday and a beautiful, clear winter day as well. Versailles, which was a country estate for kings beginning in the 1100s, became the center of political power in France in 1682 when Louis XIV moved his court from the Louvre. Royal families lived at Versailles until the beginning of the French revolution in 1789.
The palace is decorative chaos like only the royal French know how to make it — gold painted on walls and ceilings, golden and carved chairs legs and table legs, murals with so much going on they feels like genies dancing in a wild orgy, huge paintings and tapestries covering vast swaths of dark-colored walls, grand staircases with stone sculptured railings under high, decrative, stone-carved ceilings, sculptural feats of gods and kings as gods , fanciful, gigantic gold and crystal chandeliers hanging in rows down long hallway and palatial rooms, depictions of royal egos overflowing like glasses of champagne, and gaudy furnishings and objects everywhere.
THE TRIANONS
The Trianons, Grande and Petit, were retreats from the palace, and guests often stayed in them. The Petit Trianon was originally built for the King’s mistress, the Duchess De Barry, but became Marie Antoinette’s favorite place on the grounds. She had English gardens designed to surround it. Within those gardens is the Queen’s Hamlet, a “play farm” for Marie Antoinette and her friends. She and her entourage played at being peasants, dressed in expensive “peasant” attire and frolicking with the sheep, which she insisted be bathed in lavender water so they didn’t smell. It feels like a sort of Disneyland for royals to act like ordinary people.
We did love the Petit Trianon. Built of white stone, it is simple, with small rooms, unadorned, perfectly symmetrical, and has winding narrow halls with rounded windows. The sun shone through the small windows casting bright, circular patches of light. The Petit Trianon, and part of the Grande Trianon, housed a temporary exhibit by a Japanese artist/photographer, which aspired to comment on important historical figures and times of revolution. He photographed famous figures in wax museums, such as Castro, Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, and 33 others.
The Grande Trianon could be the set for a Gautier Fashion show. Each room has its own color theme, including a screamingly bright yellow room. But what was most lovely about the Grande Trianon were the doors reaching from ceiling to floor and running the length of each room.
The doors open onto a stone patio and the gardens, which of course have a round pool with fountain. We could clearly imagine how these rooms were opened during summer months, letting people move freely from rooms to landscape. The perfect setting for a royal party…or a fashion show.
ENDLESS FORMAL GARDENS
Much of the formal Versailles Garden was closed for winter, which meant some of the smaller and most interesting gardens like the ballroom were gated shut. Statues were eerily wrapped in dark canvas held in place by ropes. Trees were mostly bare of leaves, and the grand fountain was a still pool of water. But it was a gorgeous winter day, the air crisp.
Many townspeople from Versailles walked the grounds, rode their bikes down the long gravel paths in the slanting shade of the tall trees. Others paddled boats on the grand canal. For residence of Versailles, this is a free, and local park. We wandered around for seven hours before heading back to the train.
