Finally Touring My Future Home: Versailles

Today I was forced out of bed at 6:30am and by 7:30 I was in the lobby ready the head to Versailles for the day.  We took the metro to the RER, which dropped us off less than two blocks from the palace.

We walked into the courtyard and were able to quickly bypass the ridiculously long queue line (complete with a group of singing asian tourists) because we had reserved a private group tour long in advance.

Our tour guide then led us on a guided private tour of the private apartments of Louis XV and Louis XVI.  Our tour started in the Royal Chapel, where mass is still held once a month, but used to be held every single day.

The chapel was designed with the feudal system in mind.  The nobles (in this case the lowest people in the system who would be using the chapel) would sit on the ground floor.  The King and royal family would sit on the second level on the balconies, symbolizing their high status.  Finally, God can be seen on the ceiling, indicating that the only person higher than the King, is God himself.

The next room we visited was the L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles.  This room was wear the court's entertainment was staged during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.  The theater was able to present ballets, operas, concerts, and plays for the enjoyment of the court.

This theater was also the location of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's wedding, not the Hall of Mirrors, as was mistakenly portrayed by the movie that came out several years ago.

Our next stop involved a walk across the closed in, central courtyard of Versailles to the other end of the palace.

On this far side of the palace are the private rooms of Louis XV and Louis XVI.  These two kings were much more concerned with having a private life than Louis XIV ever was.  Louis XIV's rooms were open for the court to view at almost anytime during his reign and are still part of the main tour of Versailles today.  However his great-grandson and great-great-great grandson (Louis XV and Louis XVI, respectively) much preferred to live at least some of their lives out of the public eye.

This was their bedchamber when Louis XV and Louis XVI did not desire to be under the court's close scrutiny, and subjected to the morning viewing rituals that Louis XIV had made so important to court life.

The room above is just a general example of the incredible luxury of Versailles.  All the gold is actually gold leaf, so during the tour, our guide repeatedly reminded us to be careful not to touch it because of its fragility.  The room below is the library in the King's private suite.  Today all the books are actually old 18th century french books that are exchanged out with others at the National Library when they're needed.

This room is the private dining room where the King could eat with family or friends if he wished to avoid the lengthy process of dining in the public dining room, where he would be watched on all corners by courtiers.  During the reign of Louis XV, the national deficit was becoming a problem, so instead of eating on their usual solid gold plates and drinking from silver goblets, the monarchy cut back to merely using porcelain.  Ironic considering the cost of expensive porcelain.

After finishing in the private rooms, we walked back around to the public rooms of Louis XIV.  These were the rooms in which the King received political business and visitors, ate, slept, dressed, and lived, all under the careful eye of the French court.  After passing through these rooms, we at last arrived in the room that was the crowning glory of Louis XIV's Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors.

Despite being packed full of tourists, the hall was still quite impressive in terms of sheer grandeur.  After seeing this room we finished our tour and headed outside to the gardens.  They were absolutely stunning.  Just walking through the first few formal gardens near the palace was stunning, so I knew that the rest of them would be just as incredible.

I was right of course, but first we stopped for lunch at a small grab-and-go place inside one of the hedge mazes.  They had fantastic and creamy strawberry ice cream that I just couldn't say no to.

After lunch, we walked to Trianon, the two palaces and one small hamlet built as a getaway on the grounds.  Trianon was most notably used by Marie Antoinette as a way to escape the court and court life.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find a way into the gardens that didn't involve paying.  Even worse, when we got back later we found out that we could have entered them for free with our student IDs.  Talk about a let down.  But we still had a good time, wandering back slowly to the large hedge mazes and exploring them.  We found a pond that played music to a choreographed fountain display that was particularly impressive just as we were on our way out of the gardens.

After leaving Versailles we took the RER and then a bus back to the Latin Quarter.  After a small break and some studying for a test tomorrow, I went out to do some grocery shopping since I was running low on food.  For dinner, we had pasta and bread, then I did some more school work before skyping my parents and finally, getting ready for bed.