Saturday, April 30, 2016

Paris trip report, Day 3: Versailles and Eiffel tower

May 18, 2014, Sunday:


Versailles part 1 has our video of the royal apartments of Versailles.

Versailles part 2 has our video of Queen's apts, Grand Trianon, Petit trianon, fountains

Everybody cribs about the huge crowds in Versailles palace but we had a unique experience—we were the first in and had the whole place to ourselves, including the hall of mirrors!

RER C to Versailles Rive Gauche


We had earlier checked that RER C frequency to Versailles was quite low on weekends—not the usual every 15 min., just twice an hour. The metro frequency early morning is also curtailed.  So we had to ensure we caught the RER C that passed Invalides at 7.30 am. We bought the ticket straight to Versailles Rive Gauche from the machine at Blanche metro station, transferred at Place de Clichy and reached Invalides.

We had to reach the RER platform and were literally sprinting as it’s almost ½ a mile or so it seemed! Thankfully the VICK train just arrived and we scrambled in—the cabins were near empty and we had a bit of a shuteye till we reached Rive Gauche.


From the station, we walked the tree lined path to the palace… 



A Noble Count for a minute... or is it Footman? Ha, ha! Here's the palace in sight...


This is the equestrian statue of Louis XIV in front of the palace he created.





It was just 8.15 AM and there was a tour group of 12 before us.

Versailles Palace


As you can see the divider for the line is empty





This map gives a good overview...

Louis XIII ordered the construction of a hunting lodge here in 1624.

Louis XIII's son, Louis XIV, had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world.

Louis XIV:


The court of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.

Louis XIV (5 September 16381 September 1715), was known as Louis the Great ("Louis le Grand") or the Sun King ("le Roi-Soleil").

 His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days (one of the longest documented reigns of any European monarch).

In French monarchy, the king was considered to be chosen by God and through his coronation became God's “lieutenant” on earth. For Louis XIV,  circumstances made people regard him as a divine gift . (At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631.  Louis birth in 1638 was hailed as a miracle of God)

Louis XIV's unique achievements:  Held power during three major wars: the Franco-Dutch war, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish succession. Under his reign, many important discoveries in the new world were made, including colonies made in the America's and the far east.  Upon discovering the Mississippi river; Cavelier De la Salle claimed the land in the name of Louis, calling it Louisiane (which is where the name of the state of Louisiana comes from)

Louis XIV also constructed Invalides (military complex and home to this day for officers and soldiers rendered infirm either by injury or old age.),  He renovated and improved the Louvre too.

Some famous quotes of Louis XIV:  "It is legal because I wish it.", and "Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful.

Louis XIV had undiagnosed diabetes... he died of gangrene in this palace at the age of 76.

We took pics in leisure, uniformed officials came and opened the entrance at 8.50. We got through security in a second, got our audio guides and were sprinting to the state apartments... Alone in the courtyard here...


This TV gives multimedia presentation of Versailles...but we went on to the state apartments without pausing here.


This is Versailles through the ages in pictures...


We were the first to enter all the rooms and had the rooms all to ourselves, the famed mirror hall included.

This is the royal chapel (1699). Two tiered as is the custom, with royals in the top tier and court in the lower tier.


Every Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. there are concerts in the chapel by the Center for Research in Baroque Music, which was installed in Versailles in 1988.



This is the statue gallery.




Loved the model throne room in one of the entrance halls with models of the whole building and the estates—perfect miniature with replica of the wall paintings and furniture, ceiling etc in 1: 12 scale, reminding us of the lovely Dolls house in Windsor castle, England!



Tour of King's Grand apartments starts here...



This is the Hercules Salon. 

On the ceiling, this vast allegorical composition depicting the Apotheosis of Hercules with 142 figures aimed to rival the masterpieces of the Italian fresco painters but it was painted on primed canvases, i.e. glued onto the support. The young painter committed suicide shortly after ending this work. 


In 1712,  this monumental painting on the wall by Veronese, The Meal at the House of Simon, painted for the refectory of the Servite Convent in Venice in 1570, was placed here, gifted by the Doge of Venice for the support of Louis XIV against Turks.





This is the Abundance Salon.

 On evening soirees, the Abundance Salon was the place of refreshments, where a buffet served coffee, wine and liqueurs





Above is the Venus Salon... Salons are named after planets as Louis XIV was the Sun King.

Here are some lovely ceiling murals...

This vast allegorical composition depicts the Apotheosis of Hercules with 142 figures 


This is the Venus salon ceiling.


This is the Mercury salon ceiling...Mercury on his chariot drawn by 2 cocks.



This is the ceiling in Nobles salon... God Mercury spreading his influence on Arts and Sciences



This is the ceiling of the Peace Salon. The main painting on the ceiling shows France being carried in a chariot drawn by peace doves..





This is the Diana Salon.


This is the Mars Salon...the red planet and the God of war. Over the fireplace is Louis XVI on a horse.

This room served as the Ball room as Louis XIV was an excellent ballet dancer and participated in the entertainment.




This is the Mercury Salon. Originally meant as bed chamber, in winter it was the gaming room


Tables, mirrors, and irons and chandeliers in solid silver, magnificently carved by the Gobelins silversmiths, decorated walls, ceilings and mantelpiece.--Until 1689, when Louis XIV had to bring himself to have them melted down to finance the war of the League of Augsburg!! A balustrade, also in silver, separated the alcove from the rest of the room. Brocade – fabric woven with gold and silver thread – lined the walls as well as the bed, but they in turn were sent to the Mint, this time to support the Spanish War of Succession.



This is the Apollo Salon... War Room with stucco work of Louis XIV on horseback trampling enemies.


Victory over the three united powers, is represented in the Salon de la Guerre (War Room) 



HALL OF MIRRORS/ Grand Gallery:


The Grand Gallery (La Grande Galerie in French), as it was called in the 17th century, served daily as a passageway and a waiting and meeting place, frequented by courtiers and the visiting public


This famed hall of mirrors is 73m/246ft long, 10m/33ft wide,  12m/40ft high.

The throne was installed on a podium at the end of the hall, next to the Salon de la Paix (Peace Room) with its closed arch. Visitors had to walk this entire span to meet the King... we can picture the feeling of awe they experienced!

The Doge of Genoa in 1685 and the Ambassadors of Siam (1686), Persia (1715), and the Ottoman Empire (1742) had to cross this entire hall, watched by the Court gathered on each side of the terraces!

There were also the wedding celebrations of the Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV, in 1697, wedding celebrations of the son of Louis XV in 1745 and the masked ball for the wedding of Marie-Antoinette and the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, in May 1770.

Here the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919, which sealed the end of the First World War.

The Presidents of the Republic of France continue to receive the official hosts of France here

Germany was proclaimed a country here.

The mirror gallery’s 73 metres glorify the political, economic and artistic success of France.


Political success is demonstrated by thirty compositions in the ceiling arch  which illustrate the glorious history of Louis XIV in the first eighteen years of his government


Economic prosperity is demonstrated by the dimensions and quantity of the  357 mirrors that decorate the 17 arches opposite the windows,

Mirrors at the time were luxury objects.

This gallery demonstrates France is capable of stealing the mirror production monopoly away from Venice.



The huge water bodies in the garden directly on line reflect sunlight onto these windows for the mirrors to catch... ingenious design.



There are marble Allegories in polychrome niches.


Diana the Goddess of Hunting in a niche here...



We had so much time to soak it all in... not a soul in sight...





Took pics to heart’s content, went through several rooms on a repeat loop and were through in a couple of hours.

This is an Antechamber... the Bull's eye Salon...





This is the oval window which lends the name of Bull's eye to the room...


Bed Chamber of Louis XIV:


Louis XIV did not sleep in this chamber; he slept in another chamber on a regular basis;  on 1 September 1715 after reigning for 72 years, he died in that chamber

Ceremonies of the King’s rising and retiring took place here every day.





In 1785, Louis XVI ordered the brocade of his bed burned from which he obtained over 60 kilograms of gold. The original alcove and bed hangings were restored in 1736;


On this mantlepiece  installed during the reign of Louis XV stand a barometer clock and two of the four candelabra that belonged to the Comte de Provence, Louis XVI’s brother




Bust of Louis XIV


This is the Council Chamber.





This is the bedchamber of Louis XV. Not far from the great "bedchamber of Louis XIV" , Louis XV had this new, smaller, south-facing room installed in 1738, which was easier to heat. He died here on 10 May 1774 .


Salon de la Paix (Peace Room)

This is Salon de la Paix (Peace Room).  Located at the southern end of the Hall of Mirrors (opposite to the War Salon). The decoration matches that of the War Salon which means that the décor focuses on weaponry and trophies carved out of the marble panels. But - as the name states - the main theme of the salon is the peace brought to Europe by France.


The large oval shape above the fireplace was painted in 1729 and depicts Louis XIV himself granting peace to Europe by giving out olive branches






The Queen’s chamber: 


The chamber is the main room of the apartment, the one where the Queen spent most of her time. She slept here, often joined by the King. In the morning, she received visitors here during and after her Toilette, which constituted a Court event as regulated by etiquette as the Lever du Roi [Rising of the King].  

It was here that royal births took place in public; nineteen "Children of France" were born here

Marie Antoinette's bed here...


Baldachin (canopy) of the bed...


and the white door near the jewel cabinet through which she escaped at night when crowds invaded the palace...When the palace was invaded by the rioters on 6 October 1789, Marie-Antoinette managed to escape from them through the little door on the left of the alcove.

The little jewellery cabinet (mahogany with bronze and mother of pearl inlay, 1787) to the left of the bed was a gift to Marie-Antoinette from the city of Paris two years before the Revolution


During the Revolution the palace was not looted, but the furniture was sold at auctions which lasted a whole year.. Some items were found, such as the Schwerdfeger jewel case, which is to the left of the bed, or the fire screen, others were replaced by equivalent pieces: this applies to the chairs



Ceiling of the Queen's Chamber...



This is the Nobles salon. Marie Antoinette had it redocorated







Queen's Antechamber where public meals were held



Peter the great of Russia had visited Louis XIV at this palace and modeled his Peterhof palace and gardens on this—of course, his scale was much bigger and grander and we had totally loved visiting Peterhof palace in Russia and the gardens with 164 fountains installed in 1700! We had been curious to see what the inspiration looked like and though Peterhof and the Winter palace in Petersburg are many times more magnificent, we did not regret visiting Versailles. Versailles has all the trappings of baroque palaces—parquet floors, frescoed ceilings, damask silk lined walls, polychrome marble columns, lovely paintings, sculptures and of course the all pervasive gold!

 The original furnishings from Versailles and the Louvre of course are to be seen at the MET, NY and elsewhere bought by wealthy people after the turbulence in France but what we get to see here is great as well!

This is the Guard Room with 12 guards


It was here that on 6 October 1789, at dawn, the assailants who came to demand bread from the King, attempted to reach the Queen’s apartments, before a chambermaid, warned by a bodyguard, bolted the door of the Grand Couvert and advised the Queen to run away. Retracing their steps, they then tried to penetrate through the King’s Guard room.


Coronation Room:


This room has 3 huge paintings. 
This is the famous Coronation painting.

This is the Battle of Aboukir painting.

The 1792 room:

It has the portraits of the heroes of the Revolution and the Empire







This is a famous painting of the Revolution. La Garde nationale de Paris part pour l’armée, septembre 1792 (The Paris National Guard on its way to the Army, September 1792--a scene just before the storming of the palace of Tuilleries and the trial and death of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette).

The king's statue has been removed from the pedestal and revolution flag installed!


Another portion of the same painting...




We were out on the stairwell.


Posing with Napoleon...




This is the Battles Gallery, 120m long, 30m wide, created in 1837 to showcase French victories.










Came out, had our picnic lunch on the bench in the Marble Court in front of the Queen’s Apartments.





 Saw the Queen’s apartments next...








This is an Arrière cabinet with Vernis Martin woodwork, 1750s.  Vernis Martin is a type of imitation lacquer. It imitated Chinese lacquer made by heating oil and copal (resin) and then adding Venetian turpentine and was applied to a wide variety of items, from furniture to coaches. 



When Marie-Antoinette was at Versaillesshe generally withdrew to these interior chambers – the largest of the queen’s private rooms – to entertain her children and friends, to play music with her teacher, or to pose for Madame Vigée-Lebrun, her favourite painter





This is the gilded study.




This is the Cabinet of the Meridian, located on the first floor in the middle of the Palace, the most captivating room in the Private apartment of Marie Antoinette. The name “Meridian” seems to indicate its particular use during the midday hours








We walked to the place where the Petit train was taking off.

Bought the tickets at 7 euros per person and off we went to Grand trianon

Petit train:




Caught a glimpse of the gardens as we chugged through on the train...



Reached Grand Trianon...

Grand Trianon:




This Grand Trianon is in pink marble and prophyry and was built to escape the formality of the main palace,





This is the Boudoir in Empress Apartments. It was designed and built by Louis XIV for use with his secret mistress.  Napoleon Bonaparte used it extensively.

Marie Antointette preferred the Petit Trianon which was a gift to her from her husband Louis XVI.



Most of the furniture dates to First Empire (Napoleon) as the original furniture had been scattered during the Revolution.


This is the Room of Mirrors (Salon des glaces)


Here's a model of the Temple of Love (temple d'amour)on the table in a glass case.


This was Louis XIV bed room.

The bed, which comes from the Tuileries Palace: it belonged to Napoleon and his successor, Louis XVIII, Louis XVI’s brother, who died in it in 1824







We again boarded the train to Petit Trianon-- there was a wait of 10 min there as they were regulating crowds and letting in only small batches.

Grabbed the opportunity to use the facilities right at the entrance.

Petit Trianon:

This is the Louis-Philippe Family Room






This is The Malachite Room ...Malachite is a valuable gem abundant in Russia. We saw huge malachite craft pieces in Russian palaces on our visit.

Napoleon put the malachite presents Czar Alexander I gave him when he visited in this room, giving it its name... malachite table here






Malachite table with bronze carvings.





The Salle à manger (dining room): lovely wooden chairs... each different...  by Georges Jacob, one of the most celebrated early neoclassical French furniture makers





Grand Salon:


The Grand Salon is the largest room of the Petit Trianon (hence the name). The sovereigns entertained the selected few that were granted an invitation in the intimate atmosphere.

The lantern is the original ordered by Marie Antoinette; it was recovered and reinstalled in 2008.



Musical instruments installed here because of Marie Antoinette's love for music.



Bed chamber with a jib door to the left...the jib door aligns so well with the wall carvings it's hard to tell it apart



After the tour, we walked around the garden, reaching the Temple of Love—temple d'amour created for Marie Antoinette in 1778 in the middle of an English garden



Cupid cutting his bow from the Club of Hercules; the  original is now on display at the Louvre.



A couple of pics with the cupid later, sat on the benches in the shaded surroundings and had some more packed food. We could not find The Queen's Hamlet (where Marie Antoinette enjoyed a peasant life) as there were no signs and we regret missing it. Then we wandered off toward the grand canal…through these English gardens with meandering paths, streams and slopes.


Grand Canal , 1,500 m long and 62 m wide, built 1668 - 1671, served as a venue for boating parties.


Beyond the decorative  aspects , the Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water drained from the fountains in the garden above.Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill-powered and horse-powered pumps



Several families were on bikes, many others just lay on the grass in the sun. Swans glided in the tranquil water and kids and puppies pranced around. We stretched on the grass and watched the world go by… we were at peace with the whole universe!


We tried to hire a golf cart to see the rest of the gardens… they said there is a 1 hour wait. We ditched the idea, bought the tickets --9 euros pp—for the musical fountains and entered that part of the garden by 3 PM… our timing was exactly right… the central fountain came to life and put on a show to the delight of the crowd seated around it.

This is the Apollo fountain (Apollo is the Sun God and emblem of the King)


This is Enceladus Grove (1675) with the myth of the fall of the Titans who were buried under the rocks of Mount Olympus which they tried to climb in defiance of the prohibition of Jupiter. The sculptor has depicted a giant half buried under the rocks and in the throes of death.



There were other fountains offering a teasing glimpse on the myriad paths that branched off. After watching a couple of “ordinary” fountains, we turned to the right and reached a big pond following the sound of music… here was an awesome display, some 5 melodies being played and the jets really dancing to the tunes… GREAT! There was a board there saying the display is every 10 min, each lasting 7 min! So we stood around and sure enough in a couple of minutes, the display started… quite entertaining! We wanted an encore, so just sat in the shade offered by the giant planters there and watched once more… hmmm… lovely this time around too… we stayed put and watched once more, recording bits of it. Guards were trying to clear people from the ornamental grass beds… they whistled once and to the recalcitrant guys who did not obey, they approached in person to execute their orders---there were clear signs to keep off grass! We really appreciated that they refrained from whistling, so as not to disturb the display!




We moved off to another part of the garden and saw another nice fountain with several columns flowing in a rocky grotto—this was quite enjoyable though not to the level of the previous one. The fountains are timed and we were glad we had caught these!

This is La Colonnade with the "Abduction of Persephone"statue.






This is the Ball Room (1680)... the center was used for dancing, which Louis XIV excelled at.


Next was a slow walk back to the palace …pausing for pics in front of the 4 seasons fountains and the other statues…

FRENCH GARDENS:


Symmetry and order are the heart of French landscape design...Parterres and Topiary are integral parts. (in contrast, "English gardens" mimic nature with green slopes, hilly terrains, tall trees , flowing streams and architectural elements called follies--we saw a sample of that earlier on these grounds)

Parterres (A planting bed, usually square or rectangular, containing an ornamental design made with low closely clipped hedges, colored gravel, and sometimes flowers. Parterres were usually laid out in geometric patterns, divided by gravel paths.) 

Topiary (Trees or bushes trimmed into ornamental shapes. In French gardens, they were usually trimmed into geometric shapes.) 










 We were out by 4.30 and meandered to the station.

We had bought only one way ticket as we planned to stay in central Paris once we returned from Versailles

Now a spate of mistakes started…first was going to the Starbucks opp the station. We ordered hot chocolate and muffins… the size was huge … but the muffins were dense, and too sweet; the chocolate was watery. We paid with credit card and we went to the station. Tried to buy a ticket in the machine and of course, it did not accept US CC with no pin; we did not have enough coins for the cash option; my card with pin was locked up in the apt. We trudged back to the Starbucks where we tried to change a note but the girl refused; we went to a neighboring café, bought French fries for 1 euro and the girl gave change for 20 euro note. We came back to station, bought our tickets after standing in line for 10 min, got into the train which was already waiting in the platform… it was FULL, but thankfully both of us got seats. Heaved a sigh of relief as the train speeded through to reach Champ de Mars where we got down.

The evening’s main plan was to have a Seine cruise and watch the Eiffel light up and twinkle—since Luxemborg gardens are open till 7.30 or later, wanted to go there and a church nearby as well… there was good connection from Champ de Mars to reach  Luxemborg gardens, but we decided to cut that and stay put near Eiffel… walked by the river, taking pics of the rose beds and got to the front of the Eiffel…

The Eiffel Tower ( La Tour Eiffel): 


The Eiffel Tower ( La Tour Eiffel) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars.  It’s named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed, built the tower as the entrance arch to the 1889 World Fair

It’s the most-visited paid monument in the world;  6.98 million people ascended it in 2011.  The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.

The tower is the tallest structure in Paris. The tower is 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building.  The Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. With the addition of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 m (17 ft)

The tower has three levels for visitors.  The third level observatory's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground

Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally only accessible by lift.

Climbing was not our intention; we had not booked online earlier as one needs to and we felt views of the city from Sacre Coeur, Galeries Lafayette were good enough for this short trip.

So our Eiffel experience was limited to seeing the tower from nearby...


Climbed on to the short poles there and tried to get the perfect tower pic…



 Then went under the structure looking at all the framework. Got a pic standing at Le Jules Verne entrance too!



There were a couple of people buying tickets to climb the stairs from the counter nearby... We walked over to the lawn, took better pics with the tower and the huge Roland Garros ball … by the way, Roland Garros is the name of a WWI pilot after whom the stadium is named and by extension, the French open!



Several families were on the lawn, vendors peddling drinks were circling by… it was a tad too crowded for our liking. We decided we’ll ditch climbing up the tower, crossed over to Trocadero side and sat on a bench near the fountains. Now this is a nicer vantage point and we took pics before settling to wait for the tower to light up. 

This is La Joie de vivre (Joy of Living) statue group...







There were vendors peddling tower replicas but they went away when we waved them off. The fountains started and were a pretty sight. The cruise pier was close by and we were debating if we can just walk over and take a cruise.

Some how decided the wait here was enough for the day. It was 8, but no sign of lights… at 9, a gold tint covered the tower.. ahhh… now I could begin to see some beauty …earlier I had not seen anything extraordinary about a metal structure—I had almost been in the Maupassant school of thought –the famed author is supposed to have eaten at the tower restaurant every day because that was the only place he did not have to see the “metallic carcass”!!!  Yes, I do get the difficulty in defying gravity while putting up such tall metallic structures… sure, but I’m talking aesthetics here…anyways, each to their own!

The fountains took a break… after a few minutes, started again in a new design with water in the basin as well. We started to hunt for no 30 bus stop to take us back but could not find it… it probably was near the metro side and anyways, it would have stopped for the day… a little before 10, tiny silvery gleams started winking from the golden frame and I had to admit it was real pretty!



 Mission accomplished, we caught a taxi and reached home for 12 euros!

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/05/paris-trip-report-day-4-notre-dame-st.html
covers our visit to Notre Dame, St Chapelle, Conciergerie, Opera Garnier, Galeries Lafayette,  Jaquemart Andre museum

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