Early in the 17th Century, King Louis XIII of France was invited by a friend to take a break from Paris and visit the nearby town of Versailles for a number of hunting expeditions in the nearby forests. Pleased with the location, Louis in 1624 ordered the construction of a hunting lodge of his own. While hardly a lean-to, the hunting lodge was reasonably subdued by royal standards. Some expansion of the lodge was ordered in later years, but mainly to increase its comfort and usability as a hunting lodge. When Louis died in 1643 at the age of 41, his four-year-old son became Louis XIV. The new King Louis didn’t immediately start ordering people around (he was a four-year-old kid, after all) – this function was taken by his mother, Anne of Austria, who acted as regent (with the assistance of Cardinal Mazarin) until Louis’s coming of age. While growing up, Louis did some hunting of his own at Versailles, which he also enjoyed. He came of age and was officially crowned at age 15. Louis also used the services of Cardinal Mazarin until Mazarin’s death in 1661, at which time he assumed full power of France. One of the things he did was to initiate some additional expansion at Versailles, but with a somewhat different purpose. And “subdued” wasn’t in his vocabulary.

Nella and I awoke with the intention of visiting Versailles, but with a welcome complication. Our daughter Connie, who was in a study-abroad program in England, was between terms and had come through the Chunnel the day before with some friends. She’d contacted us the night before via e-mail and expressed an interest in joining us for our adventures for the day. Except she was staying in a student-frequented (i.e. cheap) hotel to the northwest of town, and we’d have to find her. We did this without too much trouble, taking an RER train through a not-so-scenic industrial area. We were very happy to see our daughter, but less happy to see her luggage, which we would have to take back to our hotel (she was also spending the night with us) before heading to Versailles. The return train couldn’t quite get us to our hotel (because of the closed Metro section), but a little impromptu navigation got us back to the hotel, where we dropped her luggage off in our new, larger (and more expensive) room.

Bob and Nella on Train Med   Lrg

Bob and Nella on Boulevard Saint Germain Med   Lrg

We had reason to believe the ticket line at Versailles would be horrendous, so we bought Connie a ticket at the train station in Paris (we didn’t have to buy tickets for ourselves, as the Palace was included in our Museum Passes), as well as round-trip tickets to Versailles for the three of us. The RER train crossed the Seine south of the Eiffel Tower and took us the twelve miles to Versailles, where we disembarked, turned right and got our first glimpse of the Palace. A hunting lodge this wasn’t.

Palace from Town of Versailles Med   Lrg	Nella and Palace Med   Lrg
Approaching Perimeter Gate MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Statue Along Outer Fence Med   Lrg   Xlg
Main Gateway Med   Lrg   Xlg	Bronze Statue of Louis XIV Med   Lrg   Xlg

Louis XIV was a firm believer in the concept of the absolute monarch, which was more concept than reality at the time of his coronation. With assorted nobles with their own fighting forces scattered around France, the king’s power didn’t realistically extend too far beyond Paris. Louis’s aim in expanding the size of the Palace at Versailles was to eventually move the center of the French government to Versailles from Paris. He employed the services of three talented artists for his expansion: the architect Louis le Vau was placed in charge of the buildings themselves, the landscape architect André le Nôtre supervised the design and construction of the gardens, and the painter and decorator Charles le Brun was in charge of the interiors. When Louis officially moved the royal residence to Versailles in 1682, he had an immense palace complex in which he required the nobles of France to spend a significant amount of time, while they were kept extremely comfortable and lavishly entertained. This made it much easier to keep an eye on them than if they’d been in Paris, as the clutter and crowds of Paris would’ve made it difficult to tell who was there and who was not. Louis XIV pretty much became the embodiment of the absolute monarch, while at the same time expanding French territory and influence through a number of wars. But at the time of his eventual death in 1715 (from gangrene), a number of deaths in the family made it necessary to pass the crown to his great-grandson, who became Louis XV at the age of five. Louis XV had a regent of his own (Philippe d’Orléans), but managed to squander many of his predecessor’s gains and discredit the monarchy during his eventual reign. He made some additions to the Palace, though. He was succeeded after his death in 1774 by his grandson, the ill-fated Louis XVI. Louis XVI didn’t add much to the Palace, mainly completing projects initiated by his predecessors. He and his wife, Marie Antoinette, did not survive the Revolution. After the Revolution, the Palace served mainly as a museum, though it was the site of two very historic pronouncements: the establishment of the German Empire following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, ending World War I.

On arriving at the Palace (also referred to as the Château), we found that the ticket line was indeed lengthy. Having our tickets, we were able to ignore this line, but just as we were preparing to laugh contemptuously, we discovered another line we were not able to bypass – the security line, which seemed to be as long or longer. We got in line with the other tourists and found that the line actually moved reasonably quickly.

Palace and Ticket Line Med   Lrg	Royal Chapel and Entry Line Med   Lrg   Xlg
Waiting in Entry Line MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Inner Fence and Gate Med   Lrg   Xlg

After passing through the metal detector we entered the inner courtyard.

Connie and Nella in Inner Courtyard Med   Lrg   Xlg

Center of Palace Med   Lrg   Xlg

We then located an entrance to the Château and began an unguided tour (marked by signs with arrows) of the interior. The inside of the Château was indeed wondrous, with a royal chapel and lavishly decorated rooms.

The Royal Chapel Med   Lrg	The Royal Chapel Med   Lrg   Xlg
The Royal Chapel Med   Lrg	Columns, the Royal Chapel Med   Lrg
The Peace of the Pyrenees Med   Lrg   Xlg	Louis XIV, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701, copy) Med   Lrg   Xlg
The Intellectual Life Med   Lrg   Xlg	First Floor Statue Gallery Med   Lrg
Ceiling, Salon of Hercules (François Lemoine) Med   Lrg   Xlg	The Meal in the House of Simon the Pharisee, Veronese Med   Lrg   Xlg
Venus Subjugating the Gods and Powers, R.-A. Houasse Med   Lrg	Corner of Ceiling, Salon of Venus Med   Lrg   Xlg
Statue of Louis XIV, Jean Warin Med   Lrg   Xlg	Bust of Louis XIV, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1665) Med   Lrg
Diana in her Chariot, Gabriel Blanchard Med   Lrg   Xlg	Bob, Salon of Mars Med   Lrg
Marie-Antoinette and her Children, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun Med   Lrg   Xlg	Mars in a Wolf-Drawn Chariot, Audran Med   Lrg   Xlg
Mercury in his Chariot, Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne Med   Lrg   Xlg	Corner of Ceiling, Salon of Mercury Med   Lrg   Xlg
Louis XV, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1730) Med   Lrg   Xlg	Apollo in his Chariot, Charles de Lafosse Med   Lrg   Xlg

We then came to the famous Hall of Mirrors, in which the agreement ending World War I was signed.

Salon of War, Hall of Mirrors MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Chandeliers and Ceiling, Hall of Mirrors Med   Lrg
Connie in Mirror Med   Lrg	Mirror (East) Wall Med   Lrg
Chandelier Stand and Chandeliers MP4-Sml   MP4-Med   WMV-HD	Nella in Hall of Mirrors Med   Lrg
Diana Statue and Candle Holders Med   Lrg	Candle Holder Med   Lrg   Xlg

The marked route took us through bedchambers of both the king and queen, as well as some other rooms.

Louis XIV and Family as Gods, Jean Nocret Med   Lrg   Xlg	Ostrich Feathers, King's Bedchamber Med   Lrg   Xlg
Louis XV Bestowing Peace on Europe, Lemoine Med   Lrg	Music-Themed Decoration, Salon of Peace Med   Lrg
The Queen's Bedchamber Med   Lrg	Canopy, Queen's Bedchamber Med   Lrg   Xlg
Jewelry Cabinet, Queen's Bedchamber Med   Lrg   Xlg	Mercury Spreading his Influence, Michel Corneille Med   Lrg   Xlg
Coronation of the Empress (copy), Jacques-Louis David, Coronation Room Med   Lrg   Xlg	The Distribution of the Eagle Standards, Jacques-Louis David (1810) Med   Lrg   Xlg

Eventually we arrived at the Hall of Battles, in which were exhibited gigantic paintings of French battles (battles with successful outcomes, of course).

Nella and Connie with Paintings Med   Lrg   Xlg	Philippe-Auguste Before the Battle of Bouvines, Horace Vernet (1827) Med   Lrg   Xlg
Nella and Connie Med   Lrg   Xlg	Siege of Yorktown Med   Lrg   Xlg
Bust of René Descartes Med   Lrg	Decorative Ceiling Panel Med   Lrg   Xlg
Madame Victoire's Bedchamber Med   Lrg	Clock of the Creation of the World, Hoquetons Salon Med   Lrg   Xlg

After passing through the remaining rooms on the tour route, we found we no longer had the ambition or energy to explore the extensive gardens (though we had taken a few pictures from the palace).

Garden (South Parterre) and Tour Train from Window Med   Lrg

Garden from Window (South Parterre) Med   Lrg   Xlg

We returned the way we had come to the town of Versailles in search of lunch.

We were very hungry, as it was now past 3 PM. We found a reasonably-priced Italian restaurant and sat down to a lunch of pizza and salad while resting our cobblestone-abused feet.

Connie's Pizza Med   Lrg

Nella's Salad Med   Lrg

We also planned out the rest of the day – our next stop was to be the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, back in Paris.