Paris 2014 - Day 11, Versailles

Well today was another tourist marathon. We were at the train station by 8am, Versailles by 9am and left Versailles at 5:30. I am now sitting with my feet up (too tired to go soak them) and a glass of red wine in my hand. Aaaaaahhhh.
Although the crowds looked a little intimidating as we arrived at the palace, there were only 10 tour buses in the parking lot, no line up for tickets and the line up for the security check moved quite fast. We were here on a Saturday as Christine (daughter, I don't think my friend from Wales cared either way) wanted to see the fountains and they are not on every day. Thus our cost for the palace, gardens, Grande Trianon and Petite Trianon was 25Euro, but we made a day of it. Christine (from Wales) had to leave by 12:30 to catch the Eurostar back home so left the inside tour early but managed to see the fountains going. So nice to spend time with her!!

The top of the entrance gate gets you in the mood for the excesses to come.

The palace is "over the top", all the rooms have beautifully painted ceilings -

 

Huge paintings on the walls depicting royal ceremonies or significant battles -

 

 

And carpets to match the walls, furniture and curtains -

Although this looks like his bedroom it was actually a room in which Louis XIV dealt with the court

I was surprised to learn that Louis XVI basically moved the court to Versailles. Here he lead a very public life, lords and ladies would even watch him eat his dinner and play pool. He was reputed to be a very charismatic king who made France the envy of all Europe and Versailles the epitome of a royal palace and gardens. He was a "hands on" king, involved not only the administration of his country but also the design of the gardens.
Personally I found the palace to be oppressive. The painted ceilings and heavily brocaded walls are claustrophobic. The Hall of Mirrors is a little lighter :

Its about 4 times longer than this but I wanted to get the part without people in.

I understand why  Louis XIV would create a "cottage" to get away from the rigors and formality of the court. We would visit this, the GrandeTrianon, on the grounds of Versailles, later. But by 11am the fountains and music had started out in the gardens.

Christine (Wales) and I walked down to the Apollo Fountain, at the bottom of the hill. before the Grande Canal,
and back, before she had to leave.

Then Chris, Jason and I ate a baguette sandwich on the steps, listening to the music and watching the fountains. The water and music go for about an hour and then stop. We walked through the groves and past the, now silent, fountains. The gardens are huge.

The gardens have miles of tree lined paths linking the groves and fountains. Big urns
and statues are scattered throughout.

We found a fountain that was still operating and set to music. Chris, in her reading, discovered that it was not original. The rest of the fountains are from the 1600s and 1700s. All the piping is original and the water is gravity fed from a redirected tributary of the Seine.

We headed past the Grande Canal, which is part of a public park, and up another lane, between trees to the "cottage", the Grande Trianon. This was a palace where the royal family went to relax and be less formal than when they were at court. There were no painted ceilings and the whole place had a much lighter feel.

The chairs, matched the wall fabric, matched the curtains, matched the rugs.

Some of the rugs were made in the 1600s.

After the Grande Trianon we walked through the gardens to the Petit Trianon. This palace was given to Marie Antoinette who surrounded it with British gardens and a British country village.

The Petit Trianon from the English garden.

we walked back up through the Versailles gardens again as the music and fountains started up again at 3pm. Chris read the map and insisted we see every fountain.

 

The Grande Canal was built to resemble Venice complete with gondoliers imported from Italy. Now it is a place for Parisians to hang out on a weekend, lying on the grass in the sun, walking some of the tree lined lane ways and renting rowboats.

 

Our final fountain was Neptune and set to music.

After sitting on the bank and watching that we walked through the town of Versailles to get back to the train (RER C) and then the Metro. Long day. Loved it but will be taking it easy tomorrow.