Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Château de Versailles Part I


Château de Versailles - more commonly known as simply Versailles - was originally little more than a seignury with a hunting lodge that was eventually transformed by Le Roi Soleil Louis XIV into one of the biggest palaces in the world. It became the center of the French court and government from May 1682, when the Sun King moved the seat of power from Paris in order keep his potential enemies closer, until October 1789 when Marie-Antoinette et sa famille were forced by the French people to return to Paris and to their ultimate fates. 

Versailles itself is a charming suburb 20 km southwest of Paris, and to get to Château Versailles one can take a 30-minute train ride from Paris, with a further 800 km walk to the Palace proper.

King Louis XIV, namesake of tacky faux-French furniture,
greets intruders visitors at the Place d'Armes forecourt.

"To all the glories of France."

Royal receptionist #1

Royal receptionist #2

The Royal Stables. Since the horses had better accommodations 
than the peasants, the revolution was all but assured.


The Golden Gates.

Barbarians at the gate.

Rooftop statues look down upon the peasantry tourists.

Statues avert their gaze from the madding crowd below.

The sun emblem in the middle of a clock - clever play on a sundial.

"Madame! Madame! The peasants are revolting!"

"Mais oui! They most certainly are."

6 comments:

  1. Naku, I saw this too... brings back memories.

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  2. quelle grande! j'adore baroque francais!

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  3. those statues are iconic. i wonder how it feels to be actually in front of it.

    sigh.

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  4. @ gillboard : "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the course of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser gate. All those...moments...will be lost in time. Like tears in the rain." - Roy Batty, Blade Runner, 1982

    It's a little like that. But without all the patricide and finger-breaking.

    @ Ternie: C'est vrai. Quelle, quelle magnifique.

    @ Kiks : Beautiful memories are gilded ones.

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  5. It looks beautiful, Rudie. And you look animated in the first picture. lolz

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  6. @ citybuoy : Well, hel-lo, Nyl! Haymishu!

    And yeah, I'm well on my way to achieving genuine anime-dom, like a true otaku.

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