Versailles - À toutes les gloires de la France (To All the Glories of France)

Today, 4/16, was our trip to Versailles, a mere 10 miles from the city center of Paris, but a universe away from what we've been seeing.  It was here in 2009 when Cheryl and I felt like the French wealth surpassed that of England, only to adjust our thinking on a subsequent trip to Russia whose palaces seemed to be the grandest and most opulent display of wealth we've ever seen.

Versailles Palace is one spectacular show of wealth, the former royal residence as commissioned by Louis XIV (the "Sun King").  Initially it was a hunting lodge built by his grandfather, Louis XIII.  It underwent extensive construction and expansion from 1661 to 1715, turning the chateau into a sprawling and opulent royal residence featuring 2,300 rooms. In particular, he added the famous Hall of Mirrors and stunning gardens and grounds that are 4x the size of Monaco!

To get there, we took the metro down to the meeting point for The Tour Guy, the Sainte-Trinite Cathedral, a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church with 5 gold domes that we had seen in the distance from the Eiffel Tower.  There, we met our guide for the day, Martin, a French-Yugoslavian man who spoke impeccable English.  Cheryl and I have experienced a lot of guides on our various travels, and allow me to say that I think Martin was arguably the best ever.  As I said, he was very easy to understand, solicitous of everyone in the group of 18 persons, and incredibly knowledgeable.  And, he moved with ease from room to room in a slow shuffle that allowed us to stay fresh throughout our 2+ hours with him.  Well done, Martin!

While Versailles was built by Louis XIV, it remained the royal palace until the fall of the monarch and
execution of his grandson, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette in 1793.  At that point, it was stripped of its precious fabrics, tableware, paintings, furniture, and the like and was abandoned.  There was some talk of demolishing it which would've been an outright tragedy.

Everywhere in the palace is something in homage to Louis XIV.  He became king of France at the age of four, following the death of his father, Louis XIII, in 1643.  His mother and he were hounded by evildoers in Paris and it scarred him to the point that, as an adult, he spurned Paris and decided on the Versailles location to build his grand palais. Estimates for the cost to build the Versailles Palace in today's money range as high as $300 B!  

A devout Catholic, Louis XIV had his own (large) private chapel and opera house built as part of the palace.  Each morning, he was gently awakened by his main attendant with a cheery "Good morning my King, it is time!"  His day consisted of Mass at 10 a.m., with cocktails and fruits to follow.  The afternoon was filled with, essentially, business meetings which were very hard to come by.  In fact, commoners were separated from the palace by a high wrought iron wall, and within the palace by other barriers.  Often throughout the day, there was a 100-piece orchestra playing soothing music throughout the palace and grounds.

Each room was so magnificent that it is hard to describe the opulence.  The King's bedroom and the Queen's bedroom were separated by the Mistress' Room, and Louis XIV and others had many mistresses.  Some estimate that he might've had up to 100 children from the various consorts of his.   In the Queen's bedroom, a magnificent large bed was in the center and it was here that royal babies were born under the watchful eyes of dozens of priests.  Their purpose was to ensure they had good eyes on the child to prevent any trickery such as swapping of babies in some sort of scheme.

The Hall of Mirrors is, arguably, the most famous room at Versailles Palace.  It is not just a space of opulent decoration (with up to 20,000 candles lit there each night during Louis XIV's era), but also a venue for important state functions including receptions for foreign dignitaries and royal weddings.  And, for most of us, it is best known as the site where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 between the combatants of WWI to end the "war to end all wars".

The Gardens at Versailles were constructed in 1661 and are considered just as important as the Palace itself.  They cover over 2,000 acres, and feature two magnificent gold fountains at each end of the so-called Grand Canal.  There are beautiful French flower gardens everywhere around them, and Marie-Antoinette had a small "village" built at the corner of the gardens so she and her children could act like commoners for fun.  I'm sure there's something to that saying attributed to her, "Let them eat cake!".Additionally, with over 400 statues in the gardens, it is the largest open-air sculpture museum in the world - simply fabulous.

We were onsite in the Palace and gardens for about 5 hours total, and it never felt like an exhausting day although the energy in some of our party was flagging (understandably so as we sat down only for a quick lunch in the gardens).  We returned to Paris on the RER (French railroad) about 4:30 p.m. and detoured, first, to the Marche des Enfants Rouges before heading back to our apartment for dinner.

Marche des Enfants Rouges (Market of the Red Children) is the oldest covered market in Paris, and was established in 1628. Its name refers to the nearby Hospice des Enfants-Rouges where orphans were clothed in red (the color of charity).  It offers fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and bread, as well as restaurants where you can buy cooked meals to take home.  Our mission there was to buy dinner because Chef Aaron and his Sous-chef Chloe agreed to cook tonight.  We left with a bag full of lovely (huge) fresh vegetables and potatoes, and a beautiful rotisserie chicken.  He's in the kitchen cooking now, so dinner comes soon.

Tomorrow promises to be another outstanding day as we journey to Giverny, the home and workshop of Monet.  It, too, is a ride on the RER and Cheryl and I were there 16 years ago also (as we were Versailles).  I'm hopeful that the magnificent gardens there are sprouting flowers as they were at Versailles, and looking forward to the experience.

Back to you after spending the day tomorrow hobnobbing with Monet.  Bon soir!