On the recommendation of an old friend/teammate, Graham, we signed up for a a Fat Tire bike tour of Versailles. Riding through the massive grounds of Versailles on a bike was the perfect way to take in all of the palace. Our tour guide also provided a great history of France through the reigns of Louis XIII thru XVI and the start of the French Revolution in 1789. When you see this place, it's no wonder that the people revolted and targeted the upper class bourgeoisie during and after the revolution.
Each tree lining this road was removed from another location, transported to Versailles and replanted because the Louis's weren't patient enough to wait for saplings to grow.
Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI and hailing from Austria, built a peasant village near the back of the grounds. It was her sanctuary from the demands of being the queen. It was just a model and she had laborers from the castle dress as peasants while she was there to give it the atmosphere of being a real village.
A residence, Le Petite Trianon, built for King Louis XV's mistresses (specifically Madame de Pompadour, who apparently had more political power than most of the kings advisors and, by some accounts, the actual king himself).
And...another castle (Grand Trianon) built for the next Louis' mistresses. Can't count the courtesans!
Lunch on the shore of the huge man-made lake. The castle is way off in the distance.
The main palace adorned with gold! The original castle was truly covered in gold plates. These were stripped and sold during the French Revolution. Recently the government decided to re-gild the outside of the palace, but the project was halted during the recent recession.
Not many photos to show form the inside of the palace. Just imagine room after room intricately decorated with paintings, tapestries, and busts of King Louis XIV, V, and XVI. The most impressive thing was the amount of marble throughout.
No comments:
Post a Comment