Versailles Off The Beaten Path

hotel de ville or my city hall, once a nice palace for the prince of Conti, and then the seat of government for the city of Versailles. Once past the staircase with the nice statue upstairs is gorgeous.
many past by it but dont go in, its a public place. 4 ave de Paris. corner with rue gral de Gaulle. just off your right out of train station rive gauche.

yes walk Versailles its easy and plenty of history around it, from being the signature of France support to the American Independance, to the family such as sister Elizabeth of king louis XVI house, to the countess of Provence, to a wonderful library, to the preserve of all perfumes of Marie Antoinette and more at the Osmothéque webpage
http://www.osmotheque.fr/osmotheque

There is a lot more than just a castle even if the best in the world ::)
webpage below is city of Versailles mayors office or hotel de ville,and the photo is going home in Versailles....where I lived for 8 years.grand maisons.

I happened to look out of one of the windows and spied this fake - probably plastic - deer head mounted to an outside wall.

I know that plastic owls are used to ward off pigeons and other birds. Might the purpose of this fellow be to ward off those pesky flying reindeer?

I may never know.

Marie Antoinette had her own house, which was the only one to be roofed with tiles. The ground floor comprised a single dining room, while the first floor was made up of a guard room, a living room and a games room. Alongside the Queen's House are outbuildings such as the Mill (restored in 1994), the Boudoir, the Warming Room (for the dining room), the Dove Cote, and the Guard's House (now occupied by a grounds gardener). Next to Marlborough Tower (with the finest view of the Queen's House) is a dairy for enjoying diary products, cooled by a stream that runs through it. Too many to name them all ...

I was trully amazed by all this very special beauty. I never could imagine when I went to the Estate of Versailles that I could end up at a place like this. Once again it's very crusual to take your time to wonder off and go off the beaten path and ignore where all the masses of tourists go. Enjoy!

Address: Versailles, Yvelines
Directions: As a part of the Petit Trianon (Marie-Antoinette's Estate) it can be found at far end of the Formal Garden, it's a 10 minute walk.

When I saw the first buildings I just had to stop and tried to get the correct atmosphere, have a look at it from a distance, before I moved on. Twelve cottages encircled by vegetable and flower gardens were originally arranged around the Grand Lac. A short distance away was the Farm from where the Queen received milk that she served in Paris porcelain in the Refreshements Dairy, which housed a beautiful marble table. This farm was built in 1784 and Marie-Antoinette installed a farming couple from the Touraine region, along with their two children. They were charged with supplying the queen with eggs, butter, cream and cheese, for which they disposed of cows, goats, farmyard animals. Can you believe it?

I didn't know where to continue my walk, I definately wanted to see all the beautiful houses. The problem was that they were plced in no particular order and sometimes a bit difficult to get to. But anyway ... I just went on with it! Quite obvious to spot is the Fishery, also known as the Marlborough Tower, which was the first construction in the Hamlet (1783).

Address: Versailles, Yvelines
Directions: As a part of the Petit Trianon (Marie-Antoinette's Estate) it can be found at far end of the Formal Garden, it's a 10 minute walk.

This for sure is 'off the beaten path'! I hiked my way around the sites of the Grand Trianon and later on the Petit Trianon. After that I entered the Formal Garden en just kept on walking. It nearly look that there was no end to this ... and all of a sudden I saw this picturesque little village showing up at the horizon. The sky was all blue, there were other people around and I thought that I found my way to this beautiful fairytale wonderland!

I read the brochure and learned that part of the grounds near the Trianon were chosen by Marie-Antoinette as the site of a lakeside village, a crucial feature of picturesque landscape gardens then so fashionable among Europe's aristocracy. In 1783, Richard Mique built this amusement village where the queen played at being a shepherdess. And an amusement village it was. The houses in this little village were built in the rustic half-timbering seen on farms in Normandy or old inner cities in Germany, but the interiors were endowed with the latest technical and decorative refinements. Just amazing to have come here ... off the beaten path, a long walk to get there ... but worth every step I took.

Address: Versailles, Yvelines
Directions: As a part of the Petit Trianon (Marie-Antoinette's Estate) it can be found at far end of the Formal Garden, it's a 10 minute walk.

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The apartments came about because Louis XV was a very private person. To ensure his privacy, he had a private entrance created. Both he and his son (XVI) were studious and collectors of fine things and their proper decorations, as the objects in the pictures show.

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If you want to spend the entire day at Versailles you should certainly enroll in an additional guided tour of a palace area that is not routinely open to the public. It will probably include a visit to the downstairs of the Royal Chapel and the Opera. Ours was also to the inner private apartments occupied by the King, Queen, older children and other royal consorts. Each occupant remodelled their apartment to their tastes and the present restorations are selectively filled with original (or equal) items. It is quite a display of interior decoration! The room most interesting to us is called the Clock Cabinet. We include also a glimpse of the private study-library of Louis XVI. More pictures and comment are in a Travelogue.