Versailles Fall 2018

Gentle Friends, I planned my Paris part of the trip with a visit to Versailles.  I've been here a couple of times before, but it has been years, so I wanted to go back.  Before leaving SF I bought tickets online from the Versailles site, for a specific time a day.  I would highly recommend doing this as the crowds at the ticket office were immense!!  I took the train from Paris and arrived in Versailles and a quick walk over to the Palace with my tickets in hand.  I got through the security set up at the front gate and walked past the gigantic ticket line to the Defour Pavilion and into a much shorter but still pretty big line.

On my last visit, I don't remember the crowds being so huge, I guess either my memory is playing tricks or just more people want to see the Palace.  As you can see the Chapel was enrobed with a cloth as there was restoration going on, it was nice that there was a picture of the interior printed on this canvass...

...once inside the Palace you could look inside but it was roped off.  I got this snap of the nave...
this is the lower level...

... it was hard to get shots that were "People free" but here is a hall with statues of past kings of France...

... after walking through a few rooms that set the stage and history of the Palace you ascend this staircase... you can get a feel of the crowds from this snap...

... the walls are covered in great portraits like this one of Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orleans (1627-93) Duchesse de Montpensier, called la Grande Mademoiselle.  She never married and her one love interest was...Antoine de Caumont, Duc de Lauzan.  Remember him from the Chateau in Saumur??  It's the same guy.  La grand Madamioiseel and the Duc de Lauzan were together until it was broken up and he married someone else.   LGM is best remembered for her part in the Frond, a civil war in France.

... another portrait I was excited to see is this one... it's Marie-Adelaide de Savoie, (1685-1712)  She was the eldest daughter of Duke Amadeus II and Anne-Marie d'Orleans.  Her betrothal to the Duke of Burgandy in June 1696 which was part of the treaty of Turin.  She was the mother of the future King Louis XV.  Styled Duchess of Burgandy after her marriage, she became Dauphine of France upon the death of her Father in law, Le Grand Dauphin, in 1711.  She died of measles in 1712, followed by her husband a week later.  There is a great biography about I read from 1992 you can about that HERE.   This portrait was used on the cover and it was nice to see it in person.

... every inch of the Palace is gilt and shiny and just way over the top!!

... this is the crowd upstairs looking into the Chapel... I had to wait...

... quite a few minutes to get this shot from the Royal tribune area looking down into the golden nave...  the chapel was completed in 1710 and was the third incarnation of a chapel at Versailles... moving along on the tour you enter...

The Hercules Room... this was the last room to be built by Louis XIV at the very end of his reign.  It had been a palace chapel which was replaced with the current chapel.  It had covered two floors and served until 1710... when a new floor was laid down to create the room, but the decoration was not finished until the reign of Louis XV.  The ceiling is covered in a painting depicting the "Apotheosis of Hercules" and it took almost 4 years to complete...

... this enormous painting, by Veronese, is called "The Meal in the House of Simon," is hung at the opposite end of the room from the fireplace... Louis XV had it brought to the Palace in 1730 from the Gobelins Factory where it had been stored since it's arrival in France as a gift from the Republic of Venice to Louis XIV in 1664.

next up on the tour...The Hall of Plenty used for gatherings and refreshment which included coffee, wine, and liqueurs and served on a sideboard. 

... The Venus Room Ceiling...

.. a really famous bust of Louis XIV by Bernini 1665

... this room was originally the royal bedchamber in the State Apartments and was referred to as the "bedroom."  During the winter was used as a games room.  One of the rare moments that it actually served as a bedchamber was when the Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV, was proclaimed the King of Spain and slept here three weeks before traveling to his Kingdom.  It was also in this room that the coffin containing the body of Louis XIV was displayed from the 2nd to the 10th of September 1715.

... this super portrait of Marie Leczinska, Queen Consort to Loius XV, is by Charles van Loo.  She was the daughter of the King of Poland.  She served as Queen for 42 years from 1725 until her death in 1768, the longest service of any queen of France.  She was a very popular Queen due to her generosity and piety.  She was the grandmother of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X of France.

...The Mercury Room has this bed that was brought to Versailles by Louis-Philippe while the Palace was being made over into a museum.  On either side are two paintings the Louis XIV was particularly fond of, and which he hung in his bedroom.  They are "David Playing the Harp" by Domenico Zampieri, and "Saint John on Patmos" attributed at the time to Raphael.

... also in the room is this portrait of Louis XV...

... the ceiling has this center medallion is of Mercury...

The Appolo room contains what is probably the most famous portrait of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud.  The painter made the original portrait in 1701 at the request of the King, who wanted to give it to he grandson the King of Spain.  Exceedingly pleased with the result, Louis XIV decided to keep the original for himself and commissioned a copy from the artist.  The copy at Versailles was made in 1702.  The original painting now hangs in the Musee du Louvre.

... and this portriat of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet, he was the official portraitist of the Court of Louis XVI

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... The War Room... on either end of the Hall of Mirrors are rooms called the War Room and The Peace Room... after leaving the Kings Apartments you enter the War Room which Hardouin Mansart started to build in 1678.  The decoration was completed by le Brun in 1686 and pays tribute to the military victories of the French army.  the walls are covered with marble panels decorated with trophies and weapons in gilded bronze.  The large stucco bas-relief depicts Louis XIV on horseback trampling his enemies.  The fireplace below is fake.

... looking at the bas-relief you turn to the right and are assaulted by the magnificence that is the Hall of Mirrors...

The Hall of Mirrors, probably the most famous room in the palace, was built to replace a large terrace designed originally by le Vau, which opened onto the garden.  The terrace stood between the Kings Apartments on the north and the Queens Apartments on the South.  It was Mansart who replaced the open terrace with this large gallery, work started in 1678 and was completed by 1684... It was packed as you can see.  When I was there the Queens Apartment were under restoration so they were all closed off, but I had seen them before so I was not too disappointed...

... these super torchieres line the walls...

... at the far end where you would go into the Peace Room, and on to the Queen's apartments was this stunning coffee pot on display... it's sterling silver with chased gold decoration made in China 1680-85, and was a gift from the Ambassadors from Siam to Louis XIV on September 1, 1686.

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... so instead of going on to the Queens room we were herded back down the Hall into the Council Chamber, which is adjacent to the Kings Bedchamber.  It took it's current form in 1755, during the reign of Louis XV when he had two rooms combined to make one big room.  The chamber is decorated with fine woodwork crafted by  Ange-Jacques Gabriel.  the elaborate motifs illustrate subjects addressed by the King during Council meetings, such as war, peace, and justice. The room was also used for official presentations, which were a necessary rite for admission to the court.  Madame du Barry, among others, was thus presented to the King on April 22, 1769.

... the Kings Bedchamber... in 1701 Louis XIV moved into this large room which is situated in the center of the eastern facade of the Palace. The Kings Bedchamber is the most important and symbolic room in the Royal Apartments and was used at several times of the day: during the kings "getting up" and "going to bed" ceremonies, when he dined in private, and when he received certain courtiers or ambassadors.  Luis XIV died in this room on September 1, 1715, after a reign of 72 years.  The fine brocade decor of gold and silver on a crimson background is complemented by the paintings chosen by Louis XIV himself.

... the second antechamber in the Royal apartments, the Bull's Eye Antechamber, is named after the circular window which brings light into the room on the southern side.  The room was originally partitioned into two spaces.  The wall was knocked down in 1701 to combine the rooms into one big space.

... at one end of the Bulls Eye room was this needlework screen and tapestry...

... moving along you enter the Antechamber of the Grand Couvert... which derives its name from the court ceremony of the Grand Couvert in which the King and Queen would dine in public: everyone decently dressed could watch their sovereigns eat.

The room itself was designed for Queen Marie-Therese, Queen to Louis XIV.  The lower panels are made of marble.  The furniture is now as it would have been just before the royal family was forced to leave the Palace.

... leaving the Royal apartments you head to The Queens Staircase or as it is also known as the Marble Staircase.  The staircase derives its name from the incredible amounts of marble that went into the building of the staircase.  When Versailles was stormed in 1789 the infuriated peasants ran up the Queen's Marble Staircase and gained access to the Queen's apartments.....

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... exiting the Royal spaces I headed across the Court of Honor to see some rooms I'd never been in...

...  this marble hall is just under the Hall of Mirrors and runs the length of the garden terraces... then it was on to the Apartments of Madames, the Aunts of Louis XVI,  they were the daughters of Louis VV... first up was the Apartment of Madame Victoire...

... a lovley protrait of Princess Victoire (1733-1799)...

.. also in her apartment is this portrait of her sister the Princess Marie-Adelaide (1732-1800)

... although these are not harpsicords either sister played they were both excellent musicians and are here in their honor and for recitals ...

Madame Victoire's Bedchamber...  that rug was so bright it looked almost new and not c. 1770... 

... this lovely little cozy room is her library...

... and her sitting room or "Cabinet Interieur" just loaded up with chairs...

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Connected to but separate from Victoire's apartments is the Apartment of Princess Marie-Adelaide's, this is her bedchamber...

... a portrait of Madame

... her music room...

... another portrait of Marie-Adelaide at her harp in later life...

... the Madames's apartments are on a lower level that abruptly ends where Louis XIV had his bathing rooms... they still retain the black and white marble floor and "water" inspired decoration...

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Then it was out into the gardens... it was a really bright sunny day so I took some snaps...

... I love this cupid on a sphinx!!

... the Hall of Mirrors from the outside... after taking some pictures I headed back for the train and Paris... I was really worn out...
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There you go sports fans a trip to Versailles.... thanks for hanging in there do stop back for a couple of more trip posts...

Take care,
edgar