La Grande Chateau de Versailles

Timeframe: Nov 23, 2008

Well after getting a good night's sleep I took the RER (train/metro) to the local suburb of Versailles where they have a very famous castle.



Here's the entrance to Versailles. Notice that a lot of it is actually under repair. It seems like they're trying to cover all the bas-relief on the roof with gold foil. The part that's already done is really pretty.



This is the King's chapel. It was built by Louis XIV (come on brother Geoff, you gotta help me out with this European History stuff) to be taller than the castle itself. Louis reigned for 72 years, the longest of any French monarch, and spent a good deal of his time in later years concerning himself with religion.



A pretty statue, tucked away into one of the corners of a room. It amazes me how art is everywhere in these places. They apparently took their patronage very seriously.



And of course, even though it's early on a snowy Sunday morning in November there are still enough people here that I have to wait to get into this next room.



I think this was a waiting room for the King's war room. I'm not sure, it just looked pretty so I put up a picture for you guys.



This emblem takes up most of the wall in the King's war room (the wall is probably a good 20 feet high). It's an amazing piece of art by LeBrun (the King's official artist).



And now we come to the piece de resistance, Le Gallerie de Glace (The Hall of Mirrors). Each mirror on the left is 'mirrored' (ha ha) by a window over looking the beautiful gardens on the right. Apparently they would hold festivals and balls in this room.


Just some nice statuary at the end of the Gallerie de Glace. Nice paintings on the ceilings too.


A sculpture of the bust of Louis XIV, on display in the waiting room before the king's bedroom. It turns out that the king was so special that there was a celebration/meeting every morning and evening when he got up and went to bed. There was even an set order as to who was allowed to enter and when. There was also a small fence in the room to separate the family and important people from the servants and orderlies. Goodness, what a life.



This is the bed very much like the one that was used by the Dauphine (daughter-in-law of Louis XV ). The reason they put a replica (from the same time period) up is to remind us that the queens of France used to have to give birth in public (that's what the little seats are for). This was done to make sure that the next king of France actually came from the loins of it's current queen or princess.



This is a little library/drawing room of the daughters of Louis XV. Every once in a while Louis would come down and visit with his daughters by using the secret passage behind the bookcase on the right.


Then we get to the beautifully manicured gardens. Unfortunately, it was snowing (kind of hard) and was pretty cold. So I didn't get many pictures. The ones I did get weren't very good because I was balancing a camera case, camera, umbrella, and backpack all at the same time in the wind.



A beautiful fountain. I hear that during the summer there are Water Festivals where there is a water show set to classical music. It's popular enough they sell tickets. Of course, they don't do it in the snow :)



And that's the end of my time at Versailles. It's funny, it's really not that different from the huge houses you can find in Newport, Rhode Island. Same gilt, same glamour. Although the gardens at Versailles are much better.