The Whole Versailles Estate with one ticket!
by Jerelis
Once I arrived at Versailles I had in mind to visit and see it all. I wanted entry for every building and every part of the garden. I learned that only for €20.- I could by a Day Pass, which gave me priority access to the entire Domain of Versailles, to several audioguided and non-guided visits, to several exhibitions.
I had a full access to many places like:
▪ King’s State Apartments (with Hall of Mirrors);
▪ Queen’s State Apartments;
▪ King’s chamber;
▪ Chapel and 17th-century galleries;
▪ History of France Galleries;
▪ Dauphin’s Apartments, the heir to the throne;
▪ Grand Trianon;
▪ Marie-Antoinette Estate.
I only missed out on the Mesdames’ Apartments, Louis XV’s daughters, because they are only open at week-ends. So do buy this pass ... it's worth your money! This ticket was valid for the whole day… I really enjoyed the freedom to organize my visit the way I wanted to, without painful waiting in lines. And whenever I saw a line in front of something I simply adjusted my scedule and was free to visit it on a later time.
Also have a look at Versailles Tourist Office website.
The history of Versailles
by Pieter11
Lots of people believe Versailles was built on demand of Louis XIV. That is logical, because he was the most famous one who lived here. An important part of the palace was built under his supervision and was adapted to him. Nevertheless the construction of the palace already started in 1631.
Louis XIV his father, Henri XIII, was a enthusiastic hunter. Louis XIII followed him in this habit. In that time they often hunted in an area that was uninhabited and a swamp. After the hunting they had to return to the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye or to the Louvre..
In 1624 Louis XIII wanted to change that and he built a hunting pavillion in Versailles. In 1632 he turned it into a castle. The construction took 5 years, until 1636, because of the wet surroundings. This part of the castle, together with the gardens, is the oldest part of Versailles.
Louis XIV turned Versailles into his residence. Before, the royal family lived in the Louvre in Paris. This move made Versailles into the political and cultural centre of France. What made Louis XIV want to move to Versailles? Probably his affaire with Louise de la Valliere. Searching for a desolate place, he quickly found Versailles. Soon he ordered to expand the palace.
Paris was grown to one of the biggest cities of Europe. The combination of the crowded city and the 17th century healthsituation caused sickness. In Versailles, life was healthy and the favorite time spending of Louis XIV could be done: hunting. Due to the incredible high costs of the construction of the palace, the capital of the nobility decreased and the power of Louis XIV increased.
At the 6th of october 1789 the royal family returned to Paris, because the revolution was over. After the family left, the palace was raided several times and got down totally.
In 1837 it got restaured by Louis-Philips and it was turned into a museum of French history. In 1919 the peace with Germany was signed here, that made an end to WO I.
Contemporary art exhibition.
by breughel
Tourists planning to visit Versailles in the next months should know that from 14/09 till 12/12/2010 there is inside the castle a special exhibition of 22 works from Takashi Murakami.
From what I read in the French quality newspaper "Le Monde" Mr. Murakami is a "avatar japonais du pop art américain" and that "Hors des écrins adaptés des galeries ou des musées d'art contemporain, le travail du japonais apparaît enfin dans toute sa lumière : grotesque".
From what I saw in the French media it seems that there is indeed, to say it in a diplomatic way, some opposition between the classical Louis XIV décor of the Grands Appartements, Galerie des Glaces, the gardens and the work of Takashi Murakami.
Consequently if you are not a fan of mixing classical art and pop art and if you want to see the Royal apartments without foreign objects disturbing the perspective it's better to wait with your visit.
For the full comment see: Le Monde 15/09/10 Critique - Un Versailles pour petites filles en fleurs.
Moberly-Jourdain incident
by ealgisi
Now, this is part of the history, something that apparently really happened.
On August 10 1901, in the gardens of the Petit Trianon, two female academics, Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, both from educated backgrounds, experienced a time slip, and saw Marie Antoniette and other people from the same perios.
After some time, they published their work in a book called An Adventure.
If you want to know more about this history, here's an interesting website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moberly-Jourdain_incident
Great website to plan your vacation
by ealgisi
Surfing the internet i have found this great website containing a lot of information about place to visit in France with a lot of local information about places, what to do, etc...
http://www.francethisway.com/
Grand Trianon
The palace
Versailles garden
From a postcard sent to my daughter in 1964
