Paris - The Camera

Le Little Camera …

We are moving house!

It’s not that I thought you would find that news particularly interesting, but as we continue the great clearout of accumulated but unnecessary clutter, my wife came to me with a small black object she had found in a back alcove of our writing bureau.

“Do you want to keep this?” she asked me - for probably the fiftieth time this day. She was waving a small black object in the air, but from the first floor gallery landing where I was sorting through old filed papers I could not be sure what it was.

Without really looking up from what I was doing I simply replied, “If it’s yours, you decide, if it’s mine dump it on the ‘maybe pile’ and I’ll get to it later.”

“I do think you should take a look now – you could be pleased to see it again.”

The giggle in her voice suggested that maybe I actually could be, and so I came down the stairs.

There on the dining room table she had placed a little black plastic case. It had been my constant companion during the days of my Paris visit, 'it' was “le little camera” that I thought had long since gone to a charity shop. This is the device I had used to capture all the images on this blog. (Why not go to the first entry and start your Paris visit now?)
I opened it up and once again pressed the shutter button. Of course it had no spool (I don’t think you can still buy suitable film cartridges) but just hearing once more that familiar sound as the shutter briefly opened and clicked closed and I was decided. 

Some items are simply worth so much more than their intrinsic value

 “I want to keep it.” 

Paris - The New Top Ten

Paris in my pocket! - The New Top 10 …

It has been a while since I last looked at the top ten blog pages in order of popularity, and having just reviewed the page hit statistics I guess it's time for an update. In terms of the blog only (i.e.not considering the Picasa images album) here is how things now stand:
(mouse over title for a hyperlink to the page):

1 – The Orsay Mona Lisa

So, you thought the Mona Lisa was in the Louvre? Check out this and the next archived post and find out the truth 

2 – Grande Arche Detail

The fascination of Paris’ newest arch continues to fascinate readers

3 – Grande Arche

As I was saying ……

4 – Sevres Porcelain Works

A surprisingly popular page, but I guess it really shouldn’t be (surprising)

5 – The Beginning

A very good place to start ….

6 – Les Halles

It’s one place in the city I always seem to find myself visiting more often than I intended

7 – Grand Gardens and Canal - Versailles

For those who question my including Versailles in a Paris blog – this is one of the (good) reasons why……

8 – Paris - Top Ten Visited pages

Wow, the top ten makes the top ten!!!!!

9 – Place Hoche – Versailles

A second good reason for including Versailles – the man who may have been Napoleon ….

10 – Montmartre

I hear Piaf every time I hear that word…

So there we have it – YOUR top ten most visited pages. If you have enjoyed this blog please recommend it to your friends or any other Paris fan you know. I’m working on a new venture – Mont St Michel - coming early in 2011 – watch out for it. I’ll post a link on this site.

The images on the blog are also now available on Picasa, and increasingly on Panoramio. I’m delighted that a large number of them have been selected for use on Google Earth, and I’ve even had my first request for commercial use of an image (I was so delighted I gave away the image for free). I have also been invited to post guest columns on other sites – a total surprise (and a pleasure to have done).

If you want to contact me to say anything good or bad about the blog you may do so at davidmmac (at) hotmail.com. Of course you know what to do with that address ;-) ……

Today's image is a previously unused shot taken in the Tuileries Gardens. Who can identify the subject? 

Post under comments!!!

Paris - Top Ten Visited Pages

Paris in my pocket! - The Top 10 …

Thanks to the technical wonders of Blogger, Picasa Web Albums and StatCounter I have been collecting some statistics and information on readership of this blog.

I realise that it would take you all quite some time to read through every posting on every page here, and so for those of you needing a quick round up of readers’ most visited pages and images, I have compiled a list of the top ten postings in order of viewing popularity – there were some surprises.

1 – The Basilica of Sacré Cœur – Montmartre

This one doesn’t surprise me. It is an inspiring place.  Included here as a bonus then, a previously unused image of the Basilica. 

2 – Grande Arche Elevators

I cannot explain this one's placing at number 2. Yes, I do think it is an unusual image, and the Arche itself is impressive ....... but number 2?

3 – Ecole Militaire

A little surprising to find this one so high on the list, military affairs must attract more web traffic than I supposed.

4 – Paris (Sign at the Parc Floral de Paris)

This was the first image posted, so perhaps there has been more time for viewing it than the others – but then some fairly recent images also appear on this list. I suspect it is just that people love Paris!

5 – Chateau de Vincennes

It is gratifying to find such interest in the Chateau. I’d like to revisit it myself.

6 – Grande Arche  de la Fraternite (Detail)

In view of item 2, its not surprising this one appears.

7 – The Seine - Restaurant Boat

I checked to see if the post contained the word sex. It doesn’t so I cannot explain this one’s popularity either.

8 – Gazebo at Versailles

One of the later postings, it must be the romance of the place that attracts attention. Or, different expectations from the words Temple of Love?

9 – Boulevard Clichy

The word sex does appear in this posting ;-) ….. Say no more.

10- Louvre – The Pyramide from the Coeur Caree

I’m pleased about this one – it is one of my favourite shots. (My absolute favourite in the album is The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which came in at number 13).

I have been delighted to find that many of these images have been selected for inclusion on Google Earth - quite an accomplishment for 'le little camera'.

Paris - Au revoir and à bientôt

Plate CXX - The Ending …

I had packed my film cartridges safely in my suitcase. The last spool was still in the indispensable little camera that had accompanied my every move of the past few weeks and was safely in my pocket – with it, so too was the city. I wondered what magical images these films contained. I would only know when I arrived back home. I hoped there would be at least one or two good ones that I could share with friends.

It was time to bid farewell to Paris; to the streets and boulevards, the buildings, the people and the crowds. To the landmarks and the parks, the museums, the galleries, and the statues. To the churches and cathedrals, the chateaux, the hôtels and the palaces. To the stations, the buses, the trains and the markets. And to the shops and boutiques, the restaurants, the night spots and the cemeteries.

As if following the directions of the street mime (a curious combination of Abraham Lincoln and Charlie Chaplin) I headed towards Chatelet Les Halles and started the journey from the city centre back to Orlyval, and then onwards to the airport to catch the Air France plane back home - my last small taste of France. The RER and Metro lines which had been a somewhat confusing on arrival were now like familiar old friends. The smells of the coaches and stations had become what I will always think of as the parfum de Paris. As clichéd as it sounds I knew my life would never be the same. So often when one realises a long held dream there is a sense of anticlimax but for me, on visiting Paris, this was not the case. I had been enthralled, enchanted and totally captivated by the city and its residents. It had met and surpassed every expectation I had harboured since those far back schooldays in Miss Cooke’s language classes. I understood fully the meanings of those French expressions used on parting - au revoir, and a bientôt.  I knew I would return as often as I could.

I have.

I shall.

Acknowledgements…

Factual information included with these posts comes from a variety sources, and while I’d like to acknowledge them all, many have been forgotten over time. I did buy some city tour guides before my visit and, as always when travelling, relied heavily on Frommer’s Budget Travel Guide. Many notes were taken during visits to the locations shown (I did eavesdrop on numerous tour guides), and I included these in letters home during my stay. With my wife having kept these letters I drew extensively from them, including many anecdotal details. I have widely used internet sources to check statements and statistics for accuracy and currency. Official websites (where existent) have been consulted, failing which, for consistency, I turned to Wikipedia. Thanks to all the contributors to this magnificent resource. I blame no-one else for any inaccuracies that may have crept in – feel free to post comments and correct me wherever I am wrong – keep the dialogue going. If you have enjoyed this blog, please tell your friends and any other Paris aficionados you know of to pay a visit. If not, tell me.

Dave

Paris - Père Lachaise - 19e

Plate CIXX – Pere Lachaise – Edith Piaf …

It is said that over forty thousand people accompanied Edith Gassion on her final journey to Père Lachaise. It is not hard to understand why. Better known as Edith Piaf, La Môme, or (France’s) Little Sparrow, the four feet ten inches tall singer in her customary costume of a simple black dress will, to me and many others, forever remain the defining voice of Paris.

I had to find her. To the south-east of the graveyard in a simple polished black granite grave, surmounted by a crucifix such as had become her trademark, and engraved with the name Famille Gassion-Piaf, Edith now rests alongside family members unable to give her the strength and support she craved in her life.

From the accordionists busking in the underground metro stations, or the Wurlitzer sounds of the carousels of the city, to the cd vendors with their portable players on the pavements outside Galeries Lafayette it is unlikely during a city visit that you will not somewhere hear the music of Piaf. Through a life that was always tinged with tragedy, starting in the back streets and brothels of Montmatre, Edith Piaf became the best known French entertainer in the world. Her love affair with America (excepting for its food) ensured her international renown. With a voice that used none of today’s musical contrivances Piaf could express the gaiety and laughter of a city at play one minute to the sadness of a bereft lover the next. She is unique.

I would be leaving Paris shortly. I knew I would come back again. In my head Piaf was singing… 

Je pense à toi sans cesse.

Paris, je m'ennuie de toi, mon vieux.

On se retrouvera tous les deux,

Mon grand Paris………

Paris - Père Lachaise - 19e

Plate CXVIII – Pere Lachaise II – Jim Morrison  …

Just follow the arrows if you’re here to pay homage to Jim, for fans and vandals (in this case synonymous) have carved, cut, scratched and painted directional markers to his grave throughout the cemetery.

Perhaps the most unexpected ‘resident’ of Père Lachaise, and today still certainly one of the most celebrated for his presence here is the US rock singer and poet (as billed in my Chambers Biographical Dictionary) James Douglas (Jim) Morrison. Best known as the lead singer/writer of the late 60’s rock band The Doors, Morrison died in Paris in mysterious circumstances in 1971. As a child of the sixties myself I rocked and grooved to such hits as Light My Fire, When the Music’s Over, People Are Strange, and Whisky Bar (an unlikely Doors’ choice from the songbook of Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht, but a hit none the less). One of the original non-conformist rock rebels of the age, Morrison’s chemically-enhanced lifestyle and outspoken political sentiments (expressed in such lyrics as Five To One or the brilliant The Unknown Soldier) often brought him into conflict with authority. To me he was pure genius, and with the possible exception of the Rolling Stones no rocker band comes close to evoking a blast from that past, with only a few familiar chords of almost any of their tracks, as do the Doors.

The daily crowds gathered around Morrison’s shrine (many of them modern day Goths) will let you know you’ve found him, and the grave itself was strewn with mementoes (from tear-stained handkerchiefs to items of jewellery) left by worshippers of the Lizard King. I wondered who finally collects them.

Paris - Pere Lachaise - 19e

Plate CXVII – Pere Lachaise …

It was to be my final day in Paris. Yet, there remained too many scenes I had, for various reasons, not photographed. Breakfasting in the hotel restaurant planning a whirlwind itinerary of missed locations, my colleague Robert from Aachen in Germany (a city, with a strong connection to France that I was later to visit) came in and joined me. He had a suggestion.

“Let’s go see some dead people.”

Robert it turned out was related to the surrealist artist Max Ernst, whose ashes are ensconced in the columbarium in Père Lachaise cemetery, and so had a personal reason for this suggestion. For me, it seemed somehow fitting that I should spend my last few hours in this city, my home for three wonderful weeks, visiting a noble cast of characters who in many ways made Paris all that it is. I had already discovered in an earlier visit to Athens how in touch and in tune one can feel with a place by visiting its cemeteries. It’s a link to the past - if you have never done this, try it and you’ll understand.

Père Lachaise is the largest of the city’s cemeteries, and arguably one of the most famous in the world. I would suggest it is also one of the most beautiful. The aging tombs, graves, crypts and mausoleums with their sculptures and memorial artefacts all set amongst the tree lined paths and gardens are inspiring. Entering at the Porte Gambetta allows the visitor to wander slowly down the slopes of the cemetery’s extensive grounds. Established by Napoleon in 1804 the graveyard is named after a Jesuit priest who had lived in the area, Père François de la Chaise confessor to Louis XIV. Initially unpopular and considered too far out of the city, the early ‘marketing’ of the site included the transference of the remains of Molière, of Jean de La Fontaine and notably in 1817 of those ill-fated lovers of French legend - Abélard and Héloïse. Within a few short years the burial ground was to contain the remains of thousands of Parisians.

Pere LachaiseMap -
Courtesy of Rough Guides

Amongst the many memorials and graves I visited were those of Colette, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Rossini, Isadora Duncan, Sarah Bernhardt (so, I did ‘see’ her after all), Pissaro, Jacques-Louis David, Seurat, Lalique, Delacroix, Ingres, Gericault, Haussman, Proust, Guillotin (how could I not), and Modigliani. I stood at the gate of the crypt of the Macdonald* Family (Marechal Jacques) … and yes, we went to pay respects to Max Ernst. Each of these already was or had become a part of my Paris story. There were two more names I had to honour…

*I have mentioned before that Macdonald (not particularly well known as a French name) is also my family name.

Paris - Temple of Love - Versailles

Plate CXV - The Temple of Love…

The gazebo as a garden feature was typically situated on a hill, to give extensive views. As decorative garden features they became popular in Europe in the 17th century. The name itself is an eighteenth century ‘joke word’ combining “gaze” with the Latin ebo (I shall), and today is generally applied to garden houses with extended views in all directions.

As an architectural feature, the cupola seems to have originated in Islamic architecture of the 8th century. Their popularity spread to Russia around the 18th century, and gradually found its way into European architecture through Vienna, Austria and Bavaria.

Leaving the grounds of the palace I spotted this cupola covered stone gazebo. Imagining the romantic aristocratic rendezvous that may have taken place here, I headed back to my final day in Paris.

How better to end this eventful visit to Versailles than to know that ‘I did gaze’ one final time at the palace and its gardens from a place of love?

Paris - A Parterre Garden - Versailles

Plate CXV – A Parterre Garden…

Back at the palace, and turning only slightly to the right of the spot where I had taken that earlier view of the Grand Canal (over the Bassin de Latone) is this example of one of two mirrored parterre gardens surrounding yet another smaller bassin and fountain.

A popular decorative element of many late nineteenth and early twentieth century European city homes was the use of landscape murals, featuring idealised pastoral or country scenes, often with brilliantly executed trompe l’œil effects, and just as often conjured up only in the imagination of the artist. If I were to ever indulge in such a decorating device myself this scene would surely provide a realistic inspiration. I was once again reminded how difficult it is in Versailles, as in the city of Paris itself, not to go completely shutter crazy with a camera in one’s hands. This scene, especially the foliage colours, reminds me (as do many other views in the Versailles’ gardens) of the magnificent scenic tapestries woven by the works of the Gobelins and especially the Aubusson factories featuring realistically wooded backgrounds. Examples of these are to be found in some of the Loire valley châteaux.

Paris - The Château de Versailles - Versailles

Plate CXIV - The Chateau of Versailles…

From the edge of the Tapis Vert (Green Carpet) looking back to the buildings, one gets a panoramic view of the front façade of the chateau. Today’s most well known aspects of the ‘palace’ are the work of teams of architects commissioned by Louis XIV (and carried out throughout his long life), namely Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Robert de Cotte and Louis le Vau. Painter Charles le Brun was responsible for many of the interiors, and the fabled classically French styled gardens, covering some 800 hectares, still largely follow the original designs of Andre le Notre. Le Notre worked closely with the architect Hardouin-Mansart, and from the start of what is called ‘the third building camapign’, begun in 1680, le Notre incorporated many of this architect’s construction features into the landscapes.

The chateau and its gardens were declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979, and attract an estimated ten million visitors annually. You really should be one of them. I’m glad I once was. 

It was a very soaked and dishevelled, but strangely contented visitor that crossed this rain sodden gravel parterre to return to the chateau, and then on back to Paris after taking this photograph. It's appropriate then that this image should be presented as a 'watercolour'.

Paris - Bassin d’Apollo - Versailles

Plate CXIII -The Bassin of Apollo…

Searching for cover from the now raging storm, the rain driving at an almost horizontal ‘angle’ I found some refuge beside one of the many statues (actually it was an urn) placed around the fountain. Not that this was much help or comfort, as the light continued to flash across the sky and I was by now truly drenched from blazer to the skin. All I could wonder was how good a conductor of electricity a wet clothed human body could be?

Situated on the east to west axis of the gardens, the Apollo Fountain was constructed in 1670, and depicts the horse drawn chariot of the sun god driving to the sky. How ironical it was to find myself in this place with kings and deities named for the Sun, the one star that was failing to deliver on the promise of its name! The water of the fountains had been stopped – there was enough of that commodity falling from the sky to make it superfluous.

With waves you could almost surf, and an eerie light forcing its way through the clouds behind the trees it made a memorable picture - which still takes me back to that dark and stormy day!

Paris - Grand Gardens and Canal - Versailles

 

Plate CXII -The Grand Gardens and Canal…

While visiting the palace and some of the surrounding attractions it had already been intermittently raining. Nothing too dramatic, but by my judgement of the sky it would be safe to begin a walk around the five and a half kilometer perimeter of the Grand Canal, with possibly a few diversions along the way.

From this position in front of the Bassin de Latone one gets a beautiful view of the canal beyond the ‘tapis vert’ that lends scale and perspective to the view. The fountain dating from 1670 depicts a scene from classical Greek literature, where Latona and her children are being tormented by mud slung at them by Lycian peasants. An obvious parallel is drawn between this event and the revolts of the Fronde in the time of Louis XIV. Mud slinging continues to be a popular political pastime!!

The Grand Canal once served as a venue for royal boating events. At some 1500 metres in length and over 60 metres wide it extends the east to west axis view of the park. At the junction of the north to west canal transverse lies an area known as Little Venice, used originally to house gondolas (and their gondoliers) a gift of the Doge of Venice.  The canal collected waters from the myriad fountains of the park, which was then recirculated using a system of windmills and pumps. The supply of water to the spectacular fountains, best seen during an event known as the Grand Eaux is a marvel of water engineering and a continuing challenge to this day.

I was no more than a kilometre into my walk around the canal when the most almighty storm broke loose. I seemed to have been alone in my foolishness of taking a stroll in the mid afternoon of this day. I knew that severe storms in 1990 had most recently destroyed and battered many of the ancient trees of the gardens. From the experience I had this day I can fully understand the nature of what was to prove an even worse catastrophe in 1999 when reportedly thousands of trees, some dating back to Napoleonic and supposedly Louis XVI times were destroyed. It was the worst such storm damage in the history of the Versailles gardens necessitating the fifth recorded re-plantation of the trees.

Contemplating this, and still wondering what the car hire company made of the sight of the saturated being who returned their slightly damp (interior) vehicle, I guess I was just lucky ……

Paris - The Hamlet Mill - Versailles

Plate CXI – Hameau de la Reine – Le Moulin …

The transformation of the gardens from the strict formality of the grand gardens of Versailles to these meandering paths and woodlands (in the genre pittoresque) had begun in 1774 under the direction of the queen’s landscaper Antoine Richard.

It is said that the queen and her retinue would have days at play in the hamlet, dressing as shepherdesses and milkmaids, using monogrammed Sevres porcelain utensils in performing the daily pastorale dairying tasks. There is no doubt these activities contributed to the scandal surrounding Marie Antoinette, and the public view of her as being frivolous and out of touch with their real world. Pretending to be a peasant girl as a form of escape in such surroundings was hardly politically correct, as revolutionary ferment was underway across the country.

To the queen it was undoubtedly a short-lived escape from the growing horrors of the outside world.

Amongst the hamlet buildings, and contributing to the realism of the village atmosphere, is this working replica of a water mill - another fanciful example of the work of Mique.

Paris - The Queen’s Hamlet - Versailles

Plate CX – Hameau de la Reine …

In the gardens of the Palace at Versailles is a well restored rustic playground built in 1783 for Marie Antoinette, and known as the Hameau de la Reine. Intended to evoke the atmosphere of a peasant village the hamlet buildings were designed by Richard Mique, an architect reputedly much favoured by the Queen. The rustic exteriors of the buildings masked sumptuous interiors where she held sovereignty, forbidding even her husband Louis XVI to enter without invitation.

Sited close to the Petit Trianon, part of the raison d’etre of the hamlet was to add to the illusion that the Trianon was located in the countryside rather than within the confines of the grand royal estates of Versailles. This hamlet was not a solitary example of such gardens, such model farms being popular amongst the French aristocracy of the time. Few however matched the scale or grandeur of this one, resembling as it does a setting perhaps by Fragonard.

Paris - Petit Trianon - Versailles

Plate CIX - Petit Trianon …

The second of the Trianons of Versailles, the Petit Trianon also had its origins as a residence for a mistress of the King, this time being designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for the famed Madame de Pompadour, long-term paramour of Louis XV. Having died before its completion in 1768 it became occupied by her successor Madame du Barry.

The exterior façade of the building is simple, a radical departure from the elaborate Rococo style typifying the architecture of the main palace. The Petit Trianon was to inspire architecture of the period around the world including it is supposed the Governor’s Mansion in far afield Kentucky in the USA.

In 1774, the 20 year old Louis XVI gave the chateau as a gift to his wife Marie Antoinette for her sole use. Grand ideas, that were never fully realised, were planned to isolate the queen and her exclusively noble guests from interaction with her retinue. These included a mechanical arrangement in the dining hall by which the table could be lowered through the floor into the chamber below for place setting,  and then raised back into position for royal dining.

The preserved and restored interiors, while contrasting with the opulence of the main palace, continue to reflect the Queen’s importance in the royal firmament.

Paris - Grand Trianon - Versailles

Plate CVIII – Grand Trianon …

One of two chateaux named Trianon and situated in the north western section of the Versailles estates, the Grand Trianon was commissioned by Louis XIV as a residence for his mistress of the time, the later dismissed Madame de Montespan. The architect was again the King’s favourite Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and the Trianon is constructed primarily of pink marble from the Languedoc region of France.

Completed in early 1688 this chateau allowed the King to escape the rigorous formalities and etiquette of the court. The building fell into disrepair during and after the French Revolution, being partially restored and placed back into use by Napoleon during the days of the First Empire.

It is today again being used, by the President of the French Republic to entertain his many international guests.

Paris - The Hall of Mirrors - Versailles

Plate CVII – Hall of Mirrors …

I mentioned yesterday that general access to the palace does not give entry to the chapel (nor to many of the private chambers of the royals, some of which are however included in additional cost tours of the palace). The principal feature of King Louis XIV’s (third building of the) palace is without doubt the magnificent Grande Gallerie known, for its lavish use of decorative mirrors, as the Hall of Mirrors or in French as the Salle des Glaces.

An incredible light is cast by the reflective glass, created by craftsmen recruited in Venice to work in the French factories of Gobelin, effectively ending a Venetian monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors. Any question about their effect in brightening the room is dispelled by comparison with the adjoining salons devoted to War (to the north), and Peace (to the south).

At seventy-three metres in length and some ten and a half metres wide, the silver and gilt furnished hall served as a venue for embassy receptions and daily royal entertainments. Still used for state occasions of today’s fifth French Republic, perhaps the most noteworthy historical event it has seen is the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28 1919, to formally end the First Great World War.

During the time I spent in the Hall of Mirrors I was yet again reminded of the variability of the stories recounted by tour guides (see yesterday’s post). One had many of the original artifacts placed in secret storage by the King and never since rediscovered, while another had them being melted by the King himself to finance his various war campaigns. The latter appears to be supported by recorded history. No matter where the truth lies, enough remains to reel the senses in this magnificent chamber.

Interestingly, I was later in my career to work with a colleague who attended an IBM corporate dinner in the Hall of Mirrors in the early 1990’s - an event he claimed to have been the first and last occasion it had been ‘rented’ for such commercial purposes.

Oh, where was I then?

Paris - Palace Corridor - Versailles

Plate CVI – A Palace Corridor …

An idea of the scale of the palace and its contents can be gained by viewing the corridors alongside the entrance chamber. Lined with statuary, and lit with gilded lanterns they are a mere foretaste of what lies ahead. The perspective created by their length draws the visitor in, wondering just what mysteries lay behind these walls. Although many of the royal chambers and the chapel are only accessed by taking an additional cost tour, and a further number of the palace’s rooms are not open to the visitor at all, there is more than enough for a day guest to view with the price of a regular admission ticket. The casual visitor will undoubtedly get caught up with some of the commercial tour parties, and if you time your walk through the palace correctly you can effectively get the benefit of one of the guide’s commentaries. This is a tip I worked out on my very first (and decidedly low) budget tour of Europe back in the seventies. Many a savvy guide will spot you and some can get fairly abusive in their demands that you leave their party – but frankly I believe you have as much right as they do to be in public spaces and have found that a reply to the effect that their crowds and noise are spoiling YOUR enjoyment usually (though not always) shuts them up. What has amused me on occasions is how the stories vary from guide to guide. It was in the magnificent Queen’s Chamber at Versailles that I heard one tour party being told a highly improbable and embroidered tale of how the bedcover, stolen during the Revolution had been found in the possession of a country peasant woman and returned to its rightful place on the queen’s bed. A few short minutes later a second tour party was informed by their guide that none of the original furnishings were intact, but that the present display is an exact reproduction of those originals, made in Paris from illustrations of the period. Somewhere lies the truth!

Paris - The Sun King - Versailles

Plate CV – Le Roi Soleil …

The equestrian Sun King (even without much sun) continues to survey all who enter his courtyard. 

Versailles remains his enduring monument. This statue of Louis, also known as Louis Le Grand, or Le Grand Monarque dominates the forecourt of the palace. He remains the greatest symbol of the absolute power of the monarchy of the classical age. Having inherited the throne at an age of ‘not yet five’, the early years of his reign saw France ruled by his Prime Minister, the  Cardinal Mazarin, from whom Louis acquired his tastes for the arts and for grand display. On Mazarin’s death, at the age of twenty-three the young Louis astounded his court by his announcement that, in view of his divine rights, he would assume the full rule of his kingdom. Although judgements of Louis XIV remain divided by political views, none can deny he wanted a powerful, magnificent France and for his life he delivered what Voltaire called ‘an eternally memorable age.’ 

Versailles, viewed at the time of its construction as an extravagant folly, endures to this day as one of France’s greatest (and most visited) splendours.

Paris - Palace Courtyard - Versailles

Plate CIV – Palace Courtyard …

Turning from the gates to face the palace, the sky was becoming heavily clouded. Having been uncertain in which order to visit - the palace first, or the gardens - my mind was made up by this sight. I knew that European rain storms were relatively short and unlike those lasting several hours or even whole days that I knew from Africa, they’d appear, rain themselves out and then as if another season had arrived the sun would shine again. A few hours of visiting the palace interiors would give this one time to pass. Wouldn’t it?

And so it was I entered the palace doors …

The first chateau dating from the 1630’s was originally a hunting lodge built for Louis XIII, then mainly resident at Vincennes. It was however Louis XIV who decided to move the royal court from Paris to Versailles, declaring the Palace his official residence in 1682, which it was to remain until his death here in 1715. It was he who commissioned the majestic designs of both the palace and the grand gardens known today. The wonderful symmetry of the palace can be seen as you approach the main entrance.

Paris - Palace Gates - Versailles

Plate CIII – Palace Gates …

Contrasted against the mildly clouding blue skies, the gilded Palace gates assured me I was in for a Royal experience. To remind one that this was after all the one time home of the man called the Sun King, the main emblem atop the palace gates is a crowned and gilded sun - the insignia of Louis XIV.

I couldn’t help wondering if there is someone, or a firm, in Europe who maintains all these black-and-gold iron masterpieces? There certainly are a number of them in most major European cities and every one manages to be impressive.

I had no portent as I entered the gates of the storm that was about to come, nor how quickly it would gather, turn my visit into an unforgettable experience, and then clear - leaving me wondering if, but for the residual puddles, I had dreamed it all.  But then, the Palace of Versailles itself has rather the same effect.

Paris - Place Hoche - Versailles

Plate CII – Place Hoche …

Perhaps including Versailles in this Paris collection is stretching the city’s boundaries a little, but the Royal town is very clear amongst my memories of the trip. Arriving in Versailles – primarily to visit the Palace I was delighted to find there was more to the town than that one attraction. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the day held great promise. I eagerly anticipated an extensive viewing of not only the palace and its buildings, but also the more or less 800 hectares of Grand Gardens.

Coming from a right hand drive country and not having been man enough to take on the main Parisian traffic, I had put my recently acquired international driver’s licence to use, hiring a Renault Twingo on the outskirts of the city to drive first to Sèvres and now also to Versailles. I almost felt brave enough after the experience to try my luck at Etoile!!

I stopped near Place Hoche with this view of Versailles’ own Notre Dame church behind, to admire the gardens and the statue of the man who, had he lived longer, and but for Napoleon, may have been the leading French military figure of his age. General Lazare Hoche (1768 – 1797), was born in Versailles of poor parents, was largely self educated and became a general of the revolutionary and Napoleonic armies, achieving great accomplishments both in war and in peacemaking in his short 13 year career.

The slightly cloudy but clear weather that greeted my arrival was about to change.

Paris - Sèvres Porcelain Works - Sèvres

Plate CI – Sevres …

It is an obvious segue from Vincennes to Sèvres, for as already mentioned, the manufacturing tradition of Sèvres porcelain started with the migration of workers from Chantilly to the royal porcelain works at the Château de Vincennes in the 1730s.

Whether or not you personally like the baroque and rococo elaborate style of many traditional Sèvres wares with their richly hued decorative work, you cannot fail to be impressed by the mastery of the manufactory’s artists over the centuries. From vases, urns and chalices destined for the earlier French royal patrons to the numerous dinner services commissioned for Presidents in residence at Washington’s White House in the United States, the quality of goods produced is impeccable.

Moved to these larger quarters in Sèvres in 1756 at the instigation Louis XV and his obviously influential mistress Madame de Pompadour, French porcelain set out to better the standards of German competitors at Meissen and Dresden. Highly prized, and highly priced, early production was extremely limited and affordable only by nobility – the King himself conducting major sales from his residence at Versailles. Most early Sèvres works were of a soft bisque type, unable to compete with the kaolin based hard paste output of the Germans. Interrupted by the Revolution, it was Napoleon’s appointed director Alexandre Brogniart who is today attributed with having saved the Sèvres works from extinction. Brogniart held this post some 47 years. The discovery in 1769 of kaolin deposits in the Perigord region at Limoges (another notable though more modern French producing region of porcelain wares) eliminated the making of soft paste products entirely. The factory is today run under the auspices of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication; such is its national importance.

At the Sèvres works is a museum (founded by Brogniart in 1824) devoted to an incredible collection of historic works and designs; a veritable treat for the eye. There is also a Sèvres shop where collector’s pieces, including some reproduction traditional works may be bought. I treated myself to a much prized plain white bisque medallion of the Emperor Napoleon – one of the very few travel ‘souvenirs’ I have acquired - a Napoleon in my pocket. My visit to Sèvres was intended to be a stopover visit en-route to Versailles. That would have been an injustice, and Versailles had to wait for another day.