Versailles Redux

You might recall my first visit to Versailles in February.  As expected, going back in May was entirely different.  The gardens were abloom, the outdoor statues were unwrapped, boats were on the lake, fountains sprang forth, and the crowds were bazonkers!  This time, however, we booked a tour so that we could (a) avoid the entrance queue and (b) learn more about the daily lives of the fancies who lived there.  Despite a train snafu and my consequent meltdown (it is a lot of responsibility to be the person in charge of transportation, bookings, directions and dammit was anyone else even looking at the board announcing the trains because a girl gets confused sometimes??), we made it with time to spare for our 9:30 am tour.  (The "time to spare" part is really due to the French rule of scheduling so that every rendezvous starts at least 15 minutes after the appointed time.  At work this rule usually sees me sitting in an empty conference room waiting for a meeting to start, but in this case it saved my post-meltdown rump.)

We toured the king's private apartments and the chapel.  The tour started in the room where the king's dogs slept, so we were off on a good foot.  We saw the private library, the private bedroom (where the XVI actually had all the trubs), the king's personal desk, the game room, and the toilet rooms.  Having read Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette and now that I am currently reading Nancy Mitford's take on Madame de Pompadour, I was pretty thrilled to see where the shizz actually went down, as it were.  I was also thrilled to be away from the frenzy of tourists in the public areas.  (If I wanted that kind of madness I'd go to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, thank you very much.)  There were spots where the tour of the private areas nearly intersected with the public areas full of hoi polloi; I sighed and thanked the stars I was on the right side of the rope.

After our tour, we had a lackluster lunch outside.  Let me clarify, the food was lackluster.  The outside ambiance was great.  The ladies I was with decided they didn't want to see the Grand or the Petite Trianon and thankfully I had already seen them so there was no protesting on my part (though I wouldn't have minded seeing what the animals were up to), and we were off.

This was the royal toilet...

until this technological wonder was installed.

The library, which had a hidden door made to look like bookshelves.  What's a library without this detail, really?

A shoddy shot of the game room, which is kept with the shutters closed to give the effect of night.  This is where Marie Antoinette gambled away the monies.

I felt pretty fancytimes to be able to enter the Royal Chapel while the rest of the public had to look from a distance.  You can read more about the chapel here, so I'll just tell you that it was built by Louis XIV and is dedicated to Saint Louis (King Louis IX).

I was especially taken with decorative marble floor.  Someday...

Versailles

I took off Friday so I could go to Versailles with J + M + M + D.  It's an entirely different experience visiting Versailles in the winter vs. the summer, since the gardens are a big part of the experience.  I've never had a great desire to visit Versailles, but since everyone was going it seemed like a good opportunity to finally experience it.  And since it was winter, there was virtually no line to get in.

I was pretty ho-hum on the main chateau.  Having been to Fontainebleau, Vaux-le-Vicomte and crazy King Ludwig's (he's the ultimate castle-biter) Herrenchiemsee (which has a full-on replica of the hall of mirrors), I was pretty meh on the chateau.  Even though it was winter, it was still ca-row-ded and managed to feel more like a museum than someone's former residence.  (Even if that someone was royalty.)  And the audio guide was uninteresting in that it went on for, like, 5 minutes (too long) about the Roman gods depicted in the paintings in a particular room instead of giving me one useful minute about the daily life that occurred in that room.  And we were all pretty peeved that the English on the audio guide was with a British accent.  Hurumph!

I much preferred the Grand and Petit Trianons to the main chateau.  They were less crowded and just felt more intimate.  M mentioned how they smelled old, and this added to the experience.  Plus, you could see more of how daily life played out in these buildings.

We also visited the Hameau de la Reine, or the Queen's Hamlet.  It was the fully functioning farm created by Marie Antoinette.  (Her "escape", if you will.)  Most of the animals had been put away for the night or the winter, but we managed to see a plucky rooster evade capture for a good 5 minutes.  It was a thrill! 

 Lots of this type-a jam in the main chateau.

Sun King in the center.

Barren.

The other side of the hall of mirrors.

The other other side of the Hall of Mirrors.

Where it took 'em 7 years.

This guy.

My favorite rooms in the Grand Trianon.  Oh, those colors!

 Grand Trianon.

Planted for spring.

Temple de l'amour.

Scenes of the Queen's Hamlet.

Where the ducks were walking on the iced over water.

Royal Feets

A series from Versailles.