A quick jaunt down the street and we boarded our first double decker metro train, which took us out to Versailles. Located about 20 miles southwest of Paris, it took us about an hour to reach our destination. We enjoyed seeing all of the Parisian suburbs and little villages outside of town every time we stopped. Once we arrived at the town of Versailles we walked down the main double boulevard up to the gates of Chateau Versailles. It wasn’t hard to miss with its stunning golden gates and large black and white marble square. The palace itself is three sided with the most opulent building in the middle.
It was a bit busy and we had to wait about 20 minutes for entry into the palace, but it was worth the wait! Once inside our eyes were met with elegant marble columns and a long open hall with large doors that brought in the light from the gardens beyond. This was the least decorated part of the palace. Then it was time to put on our anti glitter goggles and head into the royal apartments!
We stepped first into the apartments of the daughters of King Louis XIV the Sun King! Louis XIV built Chateau Versailles starting in 1682 and it was completed (including the gardens) 40 years later. It started off as his favorite hunting lodge, a place to get away from the busy life and lights of Paris. Louis commissioned the first middle palace and later added on the two wings for family and courtiers. He often held elaborate masquerades in the square behind the glittering gold gates!
They were setting up for a concert later that evening.
The opulence of his daughters’ apartments was breathtaking, but came nowhere near the gilded glory and voluptuous velvets that met our eyes in the King and Queen’s own private apartments. It was customary at the time that as one progressed down the hallway each room in the apartment became more and more grand and also private too. By the time we reached the King’s private bedroom not one inch of the wall was left plain. Paintings on the ceiling and walls, gold carved trim, grand mirrors, and fine tapestries made the room overwhelmingly beautiful! It was almost too much to take in at one viewing!
Believe it or not we were in for a further shock to our optical sensors. After a quick pass through another tame looking black and white marble antechamber we went into the famous Versailles Hall of Mirrors! This long salon is where Louis “shined” as the Sun King. 17 gold and fine glass floor length mirrors stood opposite 17 corresponding windows. Massive candlelit chandeliers hung up and down the 25+ foot tall salon where Louis hosted banquets and balls!
In the gardens our eyes had a chance to readjust to “non-blingy” spaces. The gardens though not in bloom were still lovely to walk around in because you could see the formal hedges with reflecting pools. Even a lovely white swan glided past as we gazed out onto the shallow oblong pool where the ornamental evergreen shrubs softened the gravel paths and the stone carvings.
Lulled into a restful nap by the commuter train back to Paris we all dreamed of gold and silver, velvet and fine linens harking back to a time when France was at the height of it’s imperial wealth. Within a few generations after Louis XIV’s death France would be rebelling against such opulent wealth, high status, and the monarchy.
Once back in Paris we had a bit of time until the shops closed so we did a little shopping and visited a famous Parisian bookstore. Ironically it is called Shakespeare and Company and is located along the Square of Notre Dame. It was founded by a Mrs. Beach who encouraged such writers as Elliot , Fitzgerald, and Hemmingway to sit in her bookstore and write, inspired by the comings and goings of people, animals, and boats upon the Seine River just outside the bookstore window. Today the bookstore offers large collections of modern and antiques books. I found a lovely little leather bound copy of my favorite Shakespearean play Much Ado About Nothing. It was printed in 1913. Unfortunately Faywen didn’t find a nice old copy of any of her favorite plays, but she enjoyed looking at all the old books on the shelves. We stopped by the local market and grabbed some food for a nice dinner back
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