Versailles, Paris

Louis XIV particularly liked the Trianon and would stay there in the summer for short “holidays” close to the castle of Versailles but away from the strict obligations of the royal court. He occupied there successively three apartments.
The room in the left wing is particularly elegant. It is preceded by a large cabinet called Mirror Room.
After Louis XIV the room was occupied by the Grand Dauphin. With the Revolution the pieces of furniture of the Trianon were dispersed. It is the emperor Napoleon I who restored and arranged this palace. The former room of King Louis XIV became the room of the empress Marie-Louise. The bed was ordered by Napoleon for the Palace des Tuileries.
Later king Louis Philippe (1830 - 1848) had this bed widened and transferred to the Grand Trianon for him and queen Marie-Amélie. The back of the bed carries the letters LP topped by a crown.

This room is often called "Room of the Empress"; furniture is from the Empire and Louis Philippe period but the mural decoration is generally that of the time of Louis XIV.

4 more images

Versailles is a small town situated 25 km away from Paris. It’s an easy day trip by train. Go early because there are long lines. Upon our arrival we first went to the Tourist Information (across the street from the train station) and we bought our tickets there in less than 5’!
The palace opens at 9:00 but there were people already at the palace.

There are different tickets depending what you want to see (the palace, the gardens, the trianons), it was very cold so we decided to enjoy only the palace and part of the gardens so we payed €15 (but those who were under 24 didn’t pay anything, they just showed their ids at the gate!).

It was just 5’ walk from the Info until we saw the statue of Louis XIV (pic1), 2’ later we crossed the golden gate and went to the right and started exploring the palace. One of the first rooms was one of the most impressive too. It’s the Chapelle Royale (pic 2) where the king used to visit every morning at 10.00.

The palace is huge, it has about 700 rooms but you can see only some of them. Most of the rooms/halls are filled with paintings, sculptures, tapestries, amazing murals, rare furniture etc Famous Italian and French artists made great job in here, it seems the kings had a lot of money to pay for all these great pieces of art :) The palace was built in 17th century, expanded many times and has more than 2000 windows and 1250 fireplaces!

I had a feeling everyone was running to see the Hall of Mirrors which is the highlight in the palace but in the way you will miss a lot of great corners (pic 3).

That’s why you have to read a guide book or use the audio guide, some paintings in the palace have long stories behind them, so we went slowly and enjoyed our tour and when we finally reached the Hall Of Mirrors we just stayed for some minutes because it was full of people (pic 4) and you cant really admire the 17 mirrors that face 17 windows. The rooms of King and Queen (pic 5) weren’t as impressive as we thought but as I said what I really loved were the details here and there.

The palace is open Tuesday-Sunday 9.00-18.30(until 17.30 october-april)

By itself this small artificial cave located between the "Belvedere" and the "Orangerie" (N° 9 on the tourist map of the “Field of Marie-Antoinette”) has nowadays nothing charming but the Queen liked to take refuge there near the small pond which is overlooked by the "Belvedere".

She was indeed in the cave on this afternoon of October 5th, 1789 when a page brought a message announcing that the Parisian rioters, mainly women and some revolutionary leaders disguised as women, were marching on Versailles and that she was requested at the castle. King Louis XVI had been meanwhile found in the woods where he was hunting as usual.
Some members of the royal council advised them to flee Versailles but the King, as always, hesitated.
It was the last day in Versailles of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The beginning of their tragic end.

The family living room of king Louis-Philippe is one of my preferred rooms of the right wing of the Grand Trianon. In the beginning there were two rooms, a bedroom and an anteroom of the first apartment of Louis XIV. Under Napoleon I these were the Officers room and the Princes room.
King Louis-Philippe joined the two rooms into a living room intended for the meetings of the royal family and their guests.
Paintings on mythological subjects date from the end of the 17th century.
The furniture was made by Brion and Jacob-Desmalter. The princesses could arrange their needlework in numbered drawers of the family work-tables.

It is a very beautiful, very clear living room with beautiful harmonies of colours.

This very beautiful gallery, 52 m long and 7 m broad, ends the right wing of the Grand Trianon palace and leads towards Trianon-sous-Bois (not visited).
The building shelters the flower beds from the northern wind.
The gallery contains the collection of 21 paintings of the painter Jean Cotelle carried out about 1690 at the request of the King Louis XIV. These paintings describe the gardens of Trianon and Versailles such as they were at the time of the king.
They are historical documents which served for the recent restoration of the gardens of Versailles.
They were replaced by other paintings under Napoleon but found again their place in the gallery in 1913.
Remarkable are also the 5 Empire crystal chandeliers with 24 lights which came from the crystal manufacture of Montcenis.
In the niches there are sculptures of Lespingola representing children.
Louis-Philippe transformed the gallery into dining room.

This use of this beautiful gallery is still actual. The Cotelle Gallery can be rented for private events and can contain 200 people.

This would be a fine place for a next international VT meeting on condition of finding a very generous sponsor!

4 more images

With over 2,000 rooms, the Chateau de Versailles was built to entertain as many courtisans as possible. On any given day, over 20,000 people could be walking the grounds around the palace, and Louis XIV quickly realized that he needed a place to go to escape from Versailles! In 1687, the Grand Trianon was built for the king and his immediate family. Although it is much smaller than the palace, it is just as elegant. Then, in 1768, the Petit Trianon was added under Louis XV. It was meant to be a gift to the king's favorite, Madame de Pompadour; however, she died before its completion and instead it was offered to Marie-Antoinette by Louis XVI. Marie-Antoinette loved this "little country house", near which the "Queen's hamlet" was built in 1783. The hamlet was basically a small country village, complete with a farm where Marie-Antoinette would milk her cows and enjoy the quiet country life with her children.

As much as I liked visiting the Chateau de Versailles, I think I had an even better time walking around the gardens and visiting the other buildings spread throughout the park. It gets very crowded in the palace, so it's quite nice to escape to other parts of the estate (I guess I can understand Louis XIV's desire of leaving Versailles behind once in a while!). There are a few snack bars in the gardens where you can buy a baguette at a fairly reasonable price considering where you are, and nothing beats lying down by the Grand Canal after walking throughout the gardens. If you don't feel like walking it's possible to rent bikes, hop on the little train, or even rent a paddle boat to go on the canal, but all of these are rather expensive. So just make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and you're good to go!

4 more images

The Château de Versailles is one of the largest castles in the world .The Chateau de Versailles has ... more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres of park. The paintings, tapestries , sculptures ,furniture of this fabulous castle , have been executed by the best Italian and French artists of the time .

In 1623, King Louis XIII - father of Louis XIV , the Sun King , built a hunting lodge, a little château. The king liked so much this little castle in the middle of such a good hunting park, that he soon had it enlarged. From 1661 the young King Louis XIV had his architects embellish the early Versailles castle. There was built a second building enveloping the old Versailles castle with new even style stone façades. In 1682, the Château de Versailles became the official residence of the Sun King and his Court , replacing the Louvre and Saint-Germain Castles.When the king moved into the Versailles castle, he insisted that the castle was for the people, and that his home be open to one and all.

Versailles ' fabulous gardens and park are almost as spectacular as the castle. Le Nôtre designed this Versailles garden including fountains, jets, waterfalls, statues, water parterres, formal gardens, Grand Perspective and Grand Canal, to set off the Castle's architecture ...

This place of absolute wealth and luxury is totaly worth visiting. You probably will have to que a long way before you can enter, but your patience will be rewarded. Absolutly fabulous....

The Chateau is open from Tuesday to Sunday.
May-September 9 a.m. - 6.30 p.m.
Ocotber-April 9a.m. - 5.30p.m.
The parc and the gardens open every day except in bad weather from 7 a.m. in summer, 8 a.m. in winter, until sunset (between 5.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. depending on the season)

1 more image

If after a few days in Paris, you are ready to leave the city for a quick day trip, Versailles is a good option. Just take a 30-minute ride on the RER train, Line C, to Versailles Rive Gauche Station, the last stop on the line. This station brings you within just blocks of the famous Chateau of Versailles and the Hotel de Ville.

The Chateau is the major tourist draw in Versailles. The original hunting chateau was completed in 1624, and after some expansion, it became the official residence of the King in 1682, moving from the Louvre in Paris. The Royal family remained in residence here, constantly building additions and upgrades, until the French Revolution. In 1837, the Chateau became a museum dedicated to displaying French history.

Also worth seeing are the gardens, the park, and the Grand Trianon.

The Chateau is open Tuesday - Sunday, 9 am until 6:30pm in the summer and 5:30pm in the winter. The fee is 7.50 Euros. Visitors may request a guided tour or tour on their own.

As much the Castle is imposing, as much the Grand Trianon is a gem of architectural elegance. The choice of this retreat at the end of the Park of Versailles by Louis XIV and the choice of the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart for its erection in 1687-1688 in a Italian style was a great success so that the Grand Dauphin, the Queen Marie Leszczinska, Napoleon I, King Louis-Philippe staid there and that finally the General de Gaulle decided to restore it in 1962-1965.

The Palace of the Grand Trianon consists of two buildings on ground floor, covered wit a flat roof with balustrade. The two wings are connected by a peristyle adorned with pink marble columns. The sight on the flowered gardens is beautiful.

Inside the mural decoration of the time of Louis XIV was restored. The furniture is in the style of the time of Napoleon I.
I felt quite pleased with my visit here. The Grand Trianon is much calmer than the castle itself. In sunny weather it is a very nice promenade distant for thirty minutes on foot.

It is by entrance of the "Cour Royale" to the northern wing with the 17th c. galleries that the traditional visit of the castle of Versailles starts. The visit begins at the ground floor with a succession of decorated rooms and continues on the first floor.
On crowded days (4 million visitors/year) the visit is rather chaotic because the thousands of visitors pass from one room to another by relatively narrow doors. Moreover groups listening to the explanations of their guides slow down the visitors flow.
If you are interested by the furniture, the decoration, the paintings of this part of the castle it is better to come in low season i.e. in winter.
The nicest and spectacular part of this northern wing is in my opinion the Royal Chapel which can only bee seen from the entrance or inside on special guided visits.