Versailles

A few weeks ago, we went as a group to Versailles. It was the third (I think?) time I had been. The castle itself has been fully demystified in my eyes. I've seen the celebrated Galerie des Glaces (that's the Hall of Mirrors) (oh! Another parenthetical: the Hall of Mirrors also figures in the Le Fanu story I wrote about in in my blog post about Père Lachaise cemetery! How great is it to be in France reading English ghost stories? Yep). I've seen the King's bedroom. Hoo-rah! It was cool the first time. And actually this time, it was pretty great: Judy and I definitely waltzed down the Grande Galerie. Aren't we awesome?! See those two little blurs a little left of center?


What I'm coming to is this: the glory of the Versailles castle lies not on the inside, but rather in the gardens. The grounds are beautiful. And enormous. I could go there a hundred times and still be charmed by the general splendor. Remark, though, that the carefully manicured lawns and trees and flower beds reflect Louis XIV's attitude toward himself, his court, and the world in general--everything strictly controlled and governed. The Sun King had the court moved to Versailles to better control the nobility, an understandable choice after the traumatic uprising of the nobility called the Fronde, during which the future king was menaced himself. The imposition of a codified etiquette? More of the same. If you've ever seen Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette, which I do recommend, you'll remember this very telling exchange over the minutely detailed etiquette of the morning toilette of the young dauphine:

"This is ridiculous!"
"My dear, this is Versailles."

In any case, when we went as a group, the day was miserably rainy. I was terribly disappointed. If the day had been even just menacingly overcast, we could have played in the gardens instead of wandering through the (stuffy, I think) castle.

Luckily, an opportunity to return to Versailles presented itself within the next week! My friend Chris and his brother Matthew who had been backpacking through Europe arrived in Paris. I had the pleasure of serving as their tour guide. They were lovely traveling companions--it was actually with them that I visited Père Lachaise and the Parisian Catacombs in a single day (which adventure required a more than a bit of chocolate to warm our souls again [anyone get the Harry Potter dementor reference?]). I insisted that they see the Versailles gardens, and quite fortunately, the three days Chris and Matthew were here, the weather warmed up and the sun came out for the first time in a week and a half.

So Beth, Chris, Matthew, and I set out for a picnic at Versailles, armed with breads, grapes, pears, two kinds of chocolate, three kinds of cheese, a knife, some Kinder bars, and a very large bottle of Vittel water.

Perfect, blissful success:


Next time I go, I would like to rent bikes to see a little more. A picnic is still in order. Also, probably some overpriced tourist-trap ice cream. And some lazing around in the grass, as is always appropriate in a garden. Who's game?