Passing through gold tipped wrought iron gates, we join crowds gathering in the huge front courtyards at World Heritage Château de Versailles.
This palace of palaces began as a hunting lodge. Even as a young child, Louis XIV loved playing here. And over the years, the legendary Sun King enlarged this royal retreat. Eventually, 2,000 windows lit its 700 opulent rooms, linked by 67 staircases and heated by 1,250 fireplaces. Historians estimate the world’s grandest palace cost two billion of today’s dollars.
Louis XIV moved his court from Paris in 1682, adding over 20,000 people to the then-small village. He brought more than 5,000 nobles with their entourage, courtiers and thousands staffing the palace and government offices. He and families of son Louis XV and grandson Louis XVI resided here until the French Revolution.
Eagerly, we cross an inner royal courtyard, move through the white marble chapel and along a statuary-filled hallway to enter lavish State Apartments. Woven gold and red brocade drapes, silk-upholstered furniture, gilded moldings and sculpted sideboards embellish each room. Resplendent painted ceilings depict Venus, Diana, Mercury and Mars residing in Olympus. Other classical themes and heroes appear in imaginative landscapes decorating the walls.
Apollo gazes down from the clouds in the stately throne room; high on a pedestal sits a marble bust of the Sun King. Here, he presided over ceremonies, held councils, granted audiences and received homage. Next door in the Hercules Drawing Room, he hosted receptions, balls and suppers, where Feast in the House of Simon, one of two large wall paintings, aptly whets appetites. This salon’s heavenly ceiling features Hercules’ deification.
The adjoining Hall of Mirrors glitters with crystal chandeliers and golden statuary hoisting candelabras. A wall of 17 arched mirrors reflect opposite arcaded windows with spectacular views of the royal gardens. Built for grandiose celebrations, there’s not a single space without decoration. Louis XIV walked this bedazzling corridor from his private apartments to the royal chapel each morning. The entire court attended the King’s mass.
In his Grand Apart-ments, the Sun King’s bedchamber faces the sunrise. Above the canopied bed, France is personified as a woman watching over the sleeping King. When performing rising and retiring rituals, watching courtiers jostled for position behind the golden balustrade at the foot of his bed. The King hosted casual dinners in this spacious room. And in 1715, he died here at age 76.
The elaborate Queen’s Grand Apartments mirror the King’s. Each of three resident queens spent much of their time in the main chamber. Kingly husbands often shared the beautiful canopied bed, where 19 “children of France” were also publicly birthed. We learn that during Marie-Antoinette’s time, new furniture and a fireplace were installed. When revolutionaries arrived in 1789, a small door near the alcove allowed her escape into a labyrinth of small rooms.
Over 800 hectares of Baroque gardens surround the sumptuous palace. Some visitors explore these grounds in rented golf carts; others ride rented bicycles. Like the Sun King, we stroll myriad pathways, enjoying beautiful views at every turn. Flowers line manicured lawns. Countless sculpted gods and goddesses border massive rectangular and circular ponds. In one pool, a golden Apollo drives four powerful steeds, accompanied by Tritons blowing trumpets; fountains spray sparkling waters high into blue skies. At scheduled times, classical music floats across these remarkable gardens.
Built to glorify the Sun King during his 72-year reign, Chateau de Versailles proves highly memorable. A leisurely walk takes us back to cozy rooms at Hotel le Home Saint Louis.
Check out www.chateauversailles.fr and www.raileurope.ca for more details and to plan your visit.
