Versailles

Friday we took the train out to Versailles, the palace the that Louis XIV moved the government to and lived with the nobles in incredible decadence, and also where the decadence came to an end with Louis the XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.

Visiting Versailles gives one a sense of the incredible scale of the place. Although Noelle said she preferred Windsor Castle outside of London, one could fit dozens of Windsors inside Versailles.

The stories behind some of the rooms were fascinating. One of the rooms was the game room, where the king played pool (and when you're the king, you don't lose often) and ran gambling games for the nobles. It kept them distracted, and when they got in the hole with gambling debts, Louis would kindly pay them off. Of course, when one owes the king money, one does not often object to much the king does, lest he calls in his markers.

In another room Louis kept his best artwork, including the Mona Lisa, which was one of his favorites (he had good taste obviously). Another, The Salon of War, was dedicated to showing off just who Louis XIV whipped on his way to the top of the European heap.

Most impressive of the rooms though, was the famous Hall of Mirrors, and immensely long room room with a commanding view of the entire Versailles gardens. This was the room where the full power of Versailles, and the impression it must have made to all who visited, really hits you. It was even more so in the 18th century, as mirrors were quite expensive. This was also the room where Otto von Bismark officially declared the unified Germany, after totally crushing France in 1870. Noelle correctly described that occassion as a total "dissing" of France, a big "in your face" moment. Of course, France got to return the favor in 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed there after World War I - although they'd end up paying for that little bit of revenge about 20 years later.

The gardens were immense - one could easily spend all day just scoping them out. Most engaging to us, especially after we had watched the movie "Marie Antoinette" the night before (the Sofia Coppola version starring Kirsten Dunst), was Marie's little "hamlet" on the edge of the Versailles grounds. It's where she went to escape the straightlaced and political (but luxurious) life of the palace, and live out her dream of the rural peasant life (minus starvation and manual labor of course). It was like a Disneyland version of a rural village, smaller scale but fully working, where she had animals, kept a garden, and wore simple white dresses to spend time outside. The place truly did feel like Storybook Land. The king had a similar country house nearby, so they could live the "Green Acres" dream - both the ritzy life and the country life, only minutes away from each other.

Today we took it easy, and just took a stroll through the super ritzy shopping district. We were in pursuit of a couple of clothing items for Trish and the girls, but after looking through the Lafayette Galleries (a huge store like Herrod's in London), we found that the prices were ridiculous (not even counting the exchange rate), and so we meandered on back home past the Obelisk (one of Napoleon's spoils from his Egyptian victory) and spent the evening packing up, getting ready to pick up the car and leave for Bayeaux in Normandy Sunday.




Marie and Sophie take a look at the Hall of Mirrors in Versaille


Pete and Trish in the Hall of Mirrors, with Pete and his everpresent Rick Steves guidebook in hand.


A really cool globe that was in the Dauphin's quarters (the to-be king) - not sure of the vintage but I was impressed at how the pop-apart feature to reveal what I think are the ocean floors.


Sophie looking over the gardens of Versaille


One of the main buildings in Marie Antoinette's hamlet - it was definitely the kind of place that would have been wonderful and peaceful to hang out in, except that while she was spending time and money here, the real peasants weren't doing so good, many of them starving


Sophie at Marie Antoinette's garden


Trish on one of the bridges that ran through the estate, over several ponds and streams that were filled with fish


Noelle in Marie Antoinette's vineyards - the Queen had everything going at this place


One last look at the "hamlet" - as I said, very pretty and peaceful, but the kind of thing that gets your head chopped off when the people figure out what you've been spending the country's money on


Sophie and Noelle above the large fountain with the gardens of Versaille in the background


Sophie looking over Paris from the top of the 7 story Lafayette Galleries department store