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 - 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.

Paris - Château de Vincennes - 12me

Plate XCVII - Chateau de Vincennes …

I have broken a self imposed rule of posting pictures by arrondissement, firstly because Vincennes is very much on the edges of the city, and secondly because, sadly, my visit here was towards the end of my stay in Paris making its placement seem appropriate. With only a few evenings and half weekend ahead of me there was still so much I wanted to do. What would it be – Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix or Vincennes? Having been disappointed by the Bois de Boulogne, I decided that the Bois de Vincennes would perhaps bring some compensation; Disneyland was a definite no-go - I’ll keep American culture for trips to America, bad enough that I had to be confronted with both a Disney store and the ubiquitous McDonalds on the Champs Elysées. (Such, sadly, is part of the price of globalisation). The Parc devoted to the plucky little Gaul we know as Asterix was tempting, but a dip into the history of Chateau de Vincennes convinced me there simply was no contest – for it is at Vincennes that so much French royal history and culture has it early records.

The Château itself, again open to the public, was closed during my trip and so I had to be contented to admire it from the exterior walls. The towering Donjon (52 metres), started in April 1361, is certainly impressive.  The first recorded royal hunting dwelling here dates back to the early eleventh century. It was however during the reign of Louis IX (St Louis) in the thirteenth century that its royal residence status became more widely acknowledged, and it was from here that Louis set out on his crusades. Main work on the Châtelet of the donjon was probably completed in 1369 in the reign of Charles V, who was born and who died here. It was here too that the Relics of The Passion (supposedly Christ’s Crown of Thorns) were held following their acquisition from the Emperor of Constantinople and prior to their transfer to Ste. Chapelle in Paris. Vincennes fell out of royal favour during the reign of Louis XIII as attention began to focus on Versailles. Following the destruction of the Bastille during the revolution, prison overcrowding became an issue in Paris, and in 1790 the National Assembly decreed that the donjon was to be at the disposal of the city. Rumours of the construction of a new Bastille at Vincennes had workers marching on the donjon to bring about its destruction, an act prevented by General Lafayette during events known as the ‘Affaires de Vincennes’. The Château became the headquarters for the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces from 1936 until 1940 when it was occupied by German troops, who inflicted heavy damages on the buildings on their withdrawal in August 1944. Restoration of the Château has been ongoing since 1988.

A porcelain manufactory established in Vincennes in 1738 by migrants from Chantilly, was later moved to the suburban town of Sèvres under the patronage of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. We’ll visit there shortly.

Paris - Elysee Palace - 8me

Plate LXXVIII – Elysee Palace …

I have great respect, and more than a little sympathy for the guards stationed at Europe’s public buildings. Under the constant gaze of passers-by and often antagonized by tourists who should know better they unblinkingly carry out their duties and provide a continuing link to tradition. As I did here, I have as unobtrusively as possible also captured their presence from Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London to the Royal Palace in Athens – watch out Swiss Guards, I aim to get to the Vatican yet!!!

Built for the court of the Comte d’Evreux as an hôtel particulier in 1718 by Armand-Claude Mollet in the classic Régence style, the residence was acquired by Louis XV for his mistress the Marquise de Pompadour. Signs erected by the citizens of the city were said to proclaim it as the ‘Home of the King’s Whore’. (O.K. - so she could always escape to the peace of her Petit Trianon at Versailles - which we will get to visit later). Sold again to private ownership in 1773 for use as a country residence (still lying well beyond the limits of the city) it was repurchased for the crown by Louis XVI. It was also once home to the Empress Joséphine, and it was here that the defeated Napoleon signed his abdication. Seized during the revolution it has since then remained ‘public property’ being used variously as a furniture warehouse and dance hall, even being occupied by camping Cossack soldiers during the Russian occupation of Paris in 1814. Known until the advent of the second republic as the Hôtel d’Evreux the government renamed it the Elysée National and assigned it as the official residence of the President of the French Republic – a role it fulfils to this day, although some recent incumbents have chosen not to use the private apartments. The president has his office inside the Palace, and it is the meeting place of his Council of Ministers.

Paris - Louvre Denon - 1er

Plate XII - Louvre - Denon Wing and Grande Pyramide ...

Visiting the Louvre is a little like eating the proverbial elephant – it is best taken in small pieces at one time. Of course those with limited time in Paris will try to (sadly even need to) fit it all into a single visit. I pity them for the art indigestion they will suffer. Even with my having taken several trips to the Louvre in the course of my first stay, I found myself at times numbly walking through an area thinking, “Wow! - more great paintings.” I consider myself to be an art lover, and when I realised one such occasion was after an almost cursory glance into the salon containing the (Peter Paul) Rubens’ Médicis Cycle – one of the major achievements of his career – I knew it was time to quit for yet another day.

On this, my first trip to Paris, I had one major disappointment with the Louvre – the grand French master-works of the 19th century were out of the museum on a touring exhibition. I mention this, not so much in anger, but more as a cautionary – it can happen. Recently, in 2009 even the Mona Lisa had the day off, as she was repositioned in the gallery. Amongst the must see works I had hoped to view were Jacques-Louis David’s Madame Récamier (a personal favourite), Napoléon on Horseback, and Napoléon Crowning Josephine (an identical work by David on view in Versailles, and which I did see, has an enigmatic but notable difference in that one of the ladies-in-waiting wears a pink gown in Versailles, but wears white in the Louvre version). Then, there were the works of Géricault, Ingres and above all Delacroix’ iconic Liberty Leading The People. All out. I rationalised that it is good to know that the Louvre shares its treasures by doing such loan exhibitions, and of course if any reason were needed to revisit this city, this would be it. There was still so much else to see here and my first day in the Louvre was spent trying to complete the works within the Denon wing - the French sculpture in the Cours Marly and Puget, the Oriental Antiquities, the Chambers of Napoleon III and the German, Flemish and Dutch paintings. Not to mention the Decorative Arts displays. Still quite a sizable jumbo.

I could not take it all in!!

Paris - Grande Louvre - 1er

Plate XI - The Grande Louvre...

The Louvre became a royal residence in Paris in the fourteenth century when Charles V converted the original fortress buildings into a royal home. Its french Renaissance appearance is attributed to Francis 1. Here the court remained until the move to the adjacent Tuileries Palace, with Louis XIV finally relocating to his new construction in Versailles.

Today the Louvre is arguably the most famous art gallery and museum in the world. It is, to be smart about it, the Louvre of art galleries. If I were to hazard a guess at the whereabouts of almost any well-known classical work of art, my first choice would default to the Louvre. Since the 1990s the courtyard area of the old palace has been undergoing a major transformation in a scheme simply known as the Grand Louvre.
One of the more controversial aspects of this transformation was the construction of the Pyramids designed by the architect I. M. Pei. Unquestionably in a modern idiom both in terms of design and materials used I believe they greatly enhance the area. In truth, all the buildings of the Grand Louvre are not a unified single construction, in a single architectural style. In that regard Pei’s Grande Pyramid (an obvious reference to the nearby Place des Pyramides celebrating Napoleon’s Egyptian victories) adds a twentieth century element to the area. I believe time will bring full acceptance to the decreasing number of critics of its placement. In the gallery below this entrance the well-known electronics giant recently opened an Apple Store. Unquestionably this is the grandest entrance to any flagship store anywhere.