Best French Kiss Ever (Royal Versailles) About This Page:

[DouglasE]

Friday, 8 September, 2006

Royal Versailles



Here’s the deal. Princess Sharon motivated me to finish my trip report. Now, take a look at that date up there. That’s a long time ago when you are trying to remember sh%^&&. Remember that fact, please.


For those of you who have missed this trip report keep in mind the following:


A French kiss can be a transcendent experience. At least when it is done well I feel like I have been transported to another plane of existence. This trip surpassed the limits beyond my ordinary existence. What a wonderful gift travel can be! The year 2006 has been a year of personal growth for me. This journey marks a milestone in personal growth. The trip was a challenging one. I was traveling outside North America for the first time totally on my own. There was no one to take up the slack or make sure all the dots are connected. Also, I’d be journeying to a land where I only spoke a little bit of the language. I’d be experiencing a culture that does things differently and has a different perspective. My challenge was to live like a local.

If you have missed reading this trip report you can start from the begining. Here are the earlier chapters.

Part I: Loire River Valley Best French Kiss Ever! (Loire River Valley)

Part II: Bienvenue a Paris Best French Kiss Ever! (Bienvenue à Paris)

Part III: Historic Heart of Paris Best French Kiss Ever! (updated 01/19/07)

Part IV: Impressionists' Paris Best French Kiss Ever! (Impressionist's Paris)

Part V: Marais Mania Best French Kiss Ever! (Marais Mania)

Part VI: Well-heeled Paris Best French Kiss Ever! (Well-Heeled Paris)

This morning I get my yummy breakfast as usual. I love breakfast! Who am I kidding? I just love to eat period. It’s a good thing I’m a morning person because this whole trip I’m getting up and heading out.

All Aboard! Time to get on the RER-C train. Arnaud gave each of us 2 little paper tickets. One ticket is for going out to Versailles and one is for coming back. Versailles is a town that is located 10 miles west of Paris. Louis XIV decided to move out there from the Louvre so that he could personally control policy. Prior to this, ministries were scattered around Paris. He also basically forced the aristocracy to spend time at Versailles so that he had control over them as well and couldn’t interfere with his rule. Oh and he supposedly loved the outdoors too. Versailles at that time was all forests and swamps.

My plan was to tour Versaille in the morning with the group and then head back to Paris and tour L’Orangerie, a museum famous for it’s Impressionist paintings by Utrillo, Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse. Downstairs is Monet’s famous water lilies series. After that it would be time to walk across the Tuileries Garden and see modern art at Jeu de Paume.

You will notice in the pictures that when viewing Versailles from the main entrance there is quite a bit of construction. The chateau is undergoing a massive reorganization to better accomodate the vast throng of visitors in the next few years. Currently there are a variety of entrances. The plan is that there will be one central entrance to allow a freer flow of people to see everything in the palace and the grounds easier. Of course, they'll hike up the price when this is all complete to help pay for all this crap. The renovations are due to be complete in 2010. But have you ever had a new house built? The construction guys always give you this rosy projected date of completion. So expect the new entrance to Versailles sometime in the year 2120. In the meantime enjoy the view of the piles of dirt and the back hoe and what not.



Train ride was uneventful and we made our way to the palace. We had a timed reservation to enter the palace as a group. We ended up getting there early. Our friend Elizabeth (from our tour of the Louvre) was there to greet us and hook us up with our ear phones and her microphone. It was a similar system to the one at the Louvre, but a different make and model. Since we had arrived early before the palace had even opened, Elizabeth went to talk to the palace officials to see if we could bump up our entry time. “Non!” was the response. How rude! Actually, I don’t know what was said, but the outcome is the same. Elizabeth was rather ticked off. She thought as long as everyone is here and we weren’t interfering with another group getting in what was the harm. So we wait and we wait. Other groups start to join us in the area outside of the palace that has turned into a holding pen. At one point a Chinese tour group tried to butt ahead of our group. Elizabeth was fierce as a tiger and started arguing with them and championed our entrance time. I just love this woman. Soon we enter the palace at our appointed time.






Next: What does it look like when you are the richest man on the planet?

[chezp]

Glad to see you writing again Douglas!

You know, I'm sure the last time I was at Versailles, they didn't have timed entrance and the fountains were on all the time - obviously a lot has changed since the mid 90s.

[DouglasE]

Cheryl,

The timed entrance was only for groups. We had a separate entrance. If you were just going on your own, there is not a timed entrance. Also, there used to be a separate admission for the gardens and fountain. At the time I went there no longer was. They were including the admission to the gardens as compensation for the ugliness out front. Then, it's my understanding they will continue to have only one admission but raise the price significantly once the renovations are complete.

Note the time of this response. I had a nightmare that woke me up too early. Ugh!

[Dawn in Scotland]

Hi - I was recently in Paris with DD and we talked about Versailles but skipped it in favour of another carafe or two of wine at a pavement cafe . We go to Paris a fair bit though so if your trip report is inspiring we can drag ourselves there next time. So thanks for posting this - better late than never and all that.

[PrincessSharon]

Yay! Glad to see you picking this up again, Douglas. I'm surprised you picked up on those extremely subtle hints I was dropping. I can say that in 2009, the construction was still going on, but not nearly as bad as what you saw (i.e. no backhoes or dirt piles). I'm pretty sure they're back to separate admissions for the palace and the gardens because I seem to recall getting two tickets. We used the tour entrance and had trouble getting around a group ahead of us, even though we had an earlier time. Luckily, our guide set them straight. Sometimes those guides really have to crack the whip.

[duck addict]

Thanks for resuming your TR and can't wait for the Peruvian one :

[jimmymac]

Glad you're back with your TR. Versailles is among my top 5 all time favorites

[DouglasE]

Dawn: I sincerely doubt my trip report will be inspiring. I don't recall a lot about what I learned there. So basically, it's going to be a lot of pictures.

My favorite princess: I thought the word "motivate" was more appropriate than "guilted me into"

Don: Thank you for the encouragement. I just finished locking in the last of the planning puzzle pieces to my Peru trip. Basically, I have no more work to be done until I have some money to go shopping. I need to buy some clothes that would be appropriate for a hike in the Andes.

jimmymac: Versailles is just an amazing, incredible place. I'm on the same page as you. Although, I really loved Chateau de Chambord as well. I just wished I had more time so I could have seen more of the chateaux that were more fortress like in nature rather than the palaces. But what a great excuse to go back for another visit.

[DouglasE]

As I emerge from the town of Versailles I see the palace grounds



The three buildings that are the focus of this picture originally were the stables, if I recall correctly.



The gate at the entrance to Versailles



The chapel. All important religious ceremonies took place here including the marriage of Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette.

[DouglasE]

Elizabeth gives us an overview of Versailles in front of this glass encased model of the palace.



I think this artwork demonstrates Louis XIV need to control everything. It celebrates the three orders of France being united together for one purpose.



In the distance you can spy Louis' enormous organ





In the 18th century there is a re-emergence of a desire to harken back to classical times of ancient Rome. Here we see a king of France re-imagined as Caesar Augustus. Interetingly enough I do see some parallels. France became fairly stable under the Sun King and his great-grandson Louis XV which is analogous to Caesar Augustus' Pax Romana.



Our tour of the palace of Versailles continues in the next installment.

[chezp]

More great updates and photos.

[PrincessSharon]

Love the photos. I didn't see the scale model, and I am fascinated by scale models. I always want to get little doll people and play with them. Forget I said that!

[MinnieMary]

Yay! So glad you have been motivated to work on this trip report. More please.

[DouglasE]

This picture is for Sharon. You can see the scale model of Versailles pretty clearly. I wasn't going to post this; but if Sharon loves these things so much, who am I to deny her?



This is from the Diana Room. It was here that Louis and his buddies played billiards. How often do you think King Louis won? Yeah, I would let the King of France win too. You can see the famous bust of Louis XIV by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. This is Louis as a young adult ready to take on the world. The whole room was about games. He loved to hunt (both animals and women).



Ok, Louis constructed Versailles to illustrate how important he was to the world. So to beat this fact into your head there are like a bazillion rooms. Each room is more beautiful than the next. So forgive me if I don't recall which of the many, many rooms this photo was taken. Like I've mentioned it's almost 3 years now since I took this trip.



Louis XIV called himself the Sun King. He did not let you forget that like the sun everything revolves around him. Apollo was the sun god who drove the chariot lighting up the world. The grand throne room was called the Apollo room and on the ceiling was an incredible piece of art with Apollo driving his chariot dragging the sun across the sky to warm the four corners of the world. Don't you love the gilded frame?



Next: The tour inside the palace continues

[DouglasE]

Peeking out from the palace to the town of Versailles.



Look at this incredible crystal chandelier! Just look at that!



In the Hall of Mirrors there are 17 arched mirrors. Opposite them are windows reflecting the view from the gardens. Lining the hall are 24 candelabras. It is just an incredible sight that pictures could never do justice.



We just added me into the mix



Next: The Versailles tour continues