We've been home for a few days now, but we wanted to have one last update about our trip in France.
The final day in Paris, we spent visiting the palace of Versailles. Built primarily by Louis XIV, it was intended as a getaway from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Also, as a shrine to Louis XIV's personal idol: Louis XIV.
As far as European palaces go, Versailles was pretty typical. The focal point was the Hall of Mirrors, which sounds like a very interesting funhouse attraction, but is actually just a big long room with a lot of mirrors on the wall.
There was also a rather nice Chapel, where the royal court would sit with their backs to the altar facing the royal balcony so they could worship Louis XIV while he worshiped God.
In comparison to Hofburg and Schonbrunn in Vienna, I think we preferred the Habsburg palaces over the Louis palace. This was at least in part due to the fact that many of the rooms were no longer furnished to any great extent, and just viewing an empty room with art on the walls can get a little monotonous. That said, we left with a definitive impression that Louis XIV was one of the world's great egomaniacs.
What he lacked in humility, he more than made up in style, particularly in the gardens he created. The grounds totalled about 2000 acres, much of which is manicured gardens. The main feature of the palace portion of the grounds are the bosquets, which are essentially rooms enclosed by trees with fountains in the center. In all, there are 50 fountains in the garden, with more than 600 water jets. The entire system is run by naturally fed reservoirs pressurized by the flow of the nearby Seine river.
Of course, while Louis XIV lived in Versailles, it became just as busy as the Palace in Paris had. In an effort to get away from the hustle and bustle of Versailles, and a convenient place to store his mistress, he built a smaller palace near his palace, called Trianon, complete with its own gardens.
His heir, Louis XV, seeking to escape from the hustle and bustle of Trianon, and a convenient place to store his mistress, he built a smaller chateau called Petit Trianon.
His heir, Louis XVI, gave Petit Trianon to his queen, Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use.
In addition to her little palace, Marie Antoinette had a 5 room pavillion built, as well as a small stone gazebo built on a fake lake with fake rock outcroppings. There was, strangely, a very small cave that was referred to as Marie Antoinette's grotto. I'm not sure how she used her cave, but that's, presumably, her business.
In an effort to get away from the hustle and bustle of Petit Trianon, Marie wanted to live like a peasant from time to time, (without the hard work, starvation, disease and early death) so she built a disneyland-style fake farming hamlet on the property, with fake thatched-roof houses, a mill and lighthouse.
The final day in Paris, we spent visiting the palace of Versailles. Built primarily by Louis XIV, it was intended as a getaway from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Also, as a shrine to Louis XIV's personal idol: Louis XIV.
As far as European palaces go, Versailles was pretty typical. The focal point was the Hall of Mirrors, which sounds like a very interesting funhouse attraction, but is actually just a big long room with a lot of mirrors on the wall.
What he lacked in humility, he more than made up in style, particularly in the gardens he created. The grounds totalled about 2000 acres, much of which is manicured gardens. The main feature of the palace portion of the grounds are the bosquets, which are essentially rooms enclosed by trees with fountains in the center. In all, there are 50 fountains in the garden, with more than 600 water jets. The entire system is run by naturally fed reservoirs pressurized by the flow of the nearby Seine river.
His heir, Louis XV, seeking to escape from the hustle and bustle of Trianon, and a convenient place to store his mistress, he built a smaller chateau called Petit Trianon.
His heir, Louis XVI, gave Petit Trianon to his queen, Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use.
In addition to her little palace, Marie Antoinette had a 5 room pavillion built, as well as a small stone gazebo built on a fake lake with fake rock outcroppings. There was, strangely, a very small cave that was referred to as Marie Antoinette's grotto. I'm not sure how she used her cave, but that's, presumably, her business.
In an effort to get away from the hustle and bustle of Petit Trianon, Marie wanted to live like a peasant from time to time, (without the hard work, starvation, disease and early death) so she built a disneyland-style fake farming hamlet on the property, with fake thatched-roof houses, a mill and lighthouse.
Versailles was really an incredible property. The scale of the engineering and work that went into the gardens was amazing. We went on a day when they fountains were running, which we were really glad for, it's absolutely worth arranging a visit during one of those days, because the fountains are even more impressive when they are actually running.
After spending the day at Versailles, we went back to Paris for our last meal and a quick nighttime visit to the Eiffel Tower.
Overall, we had a wonderful trip, filled with good food, good wine, and good company.
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