Visiting the palace of the Sun King (along with half the world)

In the inner courtyard of the palace.

Tuesday is not a good day to visit Versailles.  The Louvre is closed that day, so everyone goes to Versailles instead. However, because we were running short of time with Tricia and Jim, we knew we would have to go on Tuesday or not go at all.

The queue in front of the palace was even bigger than it appeared at first, because it serpentined across the great courtyard. (We have no photos of the boring line.) But then I remembered reading that if you took a guided tour, you could avoid the line, so Kevin went to check.  Fortunately, we were able to secure tickets to a 3:30 tour in English of the king’s private apartments, which would also give us access to the queen’s apartments and the Hall of Mirrors. So we coughed up a bit more money, and explored the gardens first. (Tip: This is definitely the way to see Versailles.)

We enjoyed the classical music emanating from the shrubbery (nice placement of hidden speakers), and after a relaxing lunch in a small café, nestled into a garden bower, we strolled out onto the grounds.

The sweeping vista down the Grand Canal.

Are you having fun yet, Jim and Tricia?

A great day and a great outing!

Passing the Apollo Fountain, we walked all the way out to Marie Antoinette’s private domain, which took 45 minutes or more. We did not have time to explore the Grand Trianon (the retreat for Louis XIV and his mistress) or the Petite Trianon (the “tiny” chateau in Marie Antoinette’s domain), but we took our time exploring the little hamlet where she and her friends played at being milkmaids and shepherdesses. It is said her sheep were perfumed.

The hamlet where Marie Antoinette played at being a simple peasant.

The hamlet's farm. 

These farm animals have a good life.

I wonder who gets their eggs?

Another lovely spot in the hamlet.

Seeing Versailles, with its over-the-top splendor, makes the French Revolution even more understandable, considering the royal family was ensconced in such a pleasure palace while the peasants starved. Still, I have sympathy for Marie Antoinette, who never said, “Let them eat cake.” Born to a royal lifestyle, coming to France at a tender age (14), she was insulated from—and trapped by—reality. 

This is Queen Marie Antoinette's bedchamber. Sorry about the head of the person in front of me!

It took 7 years before her marriage to the future Louis XVI was consummated, and historians differ on whether that was because Louis had a physical problem that was corrected, or whether the two were just so naïve that they didn’t know what to do! In any case, after a frank talk from her brother, sent by her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, she eventually conceived and had four children. (Only one, her eldest daughter, survived to adulthood. Her son, the Dauphin [crown prince] died at age 10, after his parents were guillotined, his death probably hastened by brutal prison treatment.)

Reportedly, Marie Antoinette was a kind woman who gave money to the poor she encountered, and she even became a guardian for several children, including a little boy from Senegal, who had been given to her as a gift, to be a servant. Instead, Marie Antoinette took him into the palace and had him cared for.  (Sorry if you knew all this. I’m not giving a history lesson—just trying to explain my fascination with her.)

We were fortunate to have an excellent guide, Monsieur Kelly, for our tour of the palace itself. There really is nothing like Versailles.  This place, which Louis XIV transformed from a hunting lodge into an elegant royal residence, is always worth seeing, even on a crowded Tuesday.

Monsieur Kelly was charming and informative.

We had a fairly small group for our guided tour, so we could see well.

The fabrics, of course, are not original, but they are woven to the same standard as the original chair coverings.

That isn't gold-colored thread.  That is real gold thread in the draperies.

Does the gilded ceiling give you any decorating ideas?

Someone was coaxing rich tones from the giant pipe organ as we passed by.

The Hall of Mirrors, where the treaty ending World War I was signed.

Another view of the Hall of Mirrors.

This is a view of the grounds from the palace.