This summer I traveled to Paris for the first time and
visited many of the iconic tourist destinations from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame, the Louvre, and Montmartre. But the highlight for me was the day we spent
at Versailles. This was my personal reason for including Paris on our travel
itinerary. I had always wanted to see the palace of Louis XIV, the Sun King. As
a native Londoner I wondered if it was really more magnificent than Buckingham
Palace. I found the answer is an unequivocal yes. The vast size of the building and gardens make
Buckingham Palace look like a humble cottage. The sheer amount of gold
ornamentation, baroque paintings, and sculptures covering every available
surface, and idealized images of the Sun King everywhere you look is overwhelming.
In the Hall of Mirrors, the mirrored walls and crystal chandeliers reflect and
dazzle with an almost blinding light, the apotheosis of Louis’s
self-aggrandizement. By the end of the day the French Revolution seemed an
inevitable and necessary reaction to all this excess.
Here are
some books I consulted before my trip so I would be an informed tourist:
A
“fast-paced” (Kirkus Reviews) history
of the building and the lifestyles of those who lived there, royalty and
servants, from construction to the revolution.
This
memoir by the gardener-in-chief at the palace since 1982 was a best-seller in
France. While overseeing a team of 80 gardeners on the 2,100 acres, Baraton also
deals with visitors who try to hide in the gardens overnight and other
misadventures.
The
popular biographer gives a lively account of the many women in Louis’s life
from his mother and wives to his many mistresses. Also available as a CD Book.
The
compelling story of a scandal that roiled the court at Versailles as a craze
for fortune-telling and love potions ended in a witch-hunt and the burning of a
woman accused of poisoning and sorcery. This book is available from
Inter-Library Loan.
Not
surprisingly the splendor and romance of Versailles have inspired many
novelists, including these:
A
poignant historical novel told from the perspective of Marie Antoinette, for
whom the palace was both playground and prison, separating her from the people
who would determine her tragic fate.
A sequel
to Restoration, this novel by the
critically acclaimed author follows her anti-hero Sir Robert Merivel to
Versailles where he hopes to become King Louis XIV’s physician. His adventures at
the court he deems dazzling but superficial include an affair with a beautiful Swiss
botanist and the rescue of a captive bear.
A
mystery featuring the series character Charles du Luc, a Jesuit priest in
seventeenth century France. In this episode du Luc travels to Versailles to
present Louis’s wife with the gift of a reliquary. But on his first night at the
palace a courtier dies of suspected poisoning, and a gardener is found
murdered.
The
gardens are perhaps the most spectacular part of Versailles. I had hoped to
visit le Hameau de la Reine, the mock
farm in the gardens of the Petit Trianon where Marie Antoinette and her ladies played
at shepherdesses. But our guide pointed to the map of the gardens and explained
that the Petit Trianon was a two hour hike away! That gave us some perspective
on the vast scale of the palace grounds. We had quite a hike just exploring the
gardens in the immediate vicinity of the palace. It would be easy to
get lost in the maze of walkways between the many circular enclosed gardens
hidden away behind walls and hedges. Each one came as a surprise, ingeniously
disguised until you suddenly came upon it around a bend or up a rise. The most
memorable was a fountain water garden heralded by the sound of baroque music
playing. I couldn’t resist taking a video:
French
music in the reign of Louis XIV was heavily influenced by Italian opera and
ballet. In fact the leading composer at the French court, Jean-Baptiste Lully,
was born in Italy. He changed his name from Giovanni Battista Lulli when he
arrived in France in 1653. As I write I am listening to some of his
compositions for Louis XIV on MCPL’s free music streaming service Classical Music Library.
You can explore all MCPL’s music options here and pair your own reading with some related listening. Finally, for a virtual tour of Versailles check out the DVD The Palace of Versailles: A Grand Tour inside the Historic French Palace. After we left Versailles, suffering a kind of sensory overload from all the gold and glitter and baroque magnificence, we relaxed over traditional French crepes in a little bistro just a short walk away. Somehow our conversation turned to the French Revolution.
