I need to admit up front that I am too much of a socialist at heart to really "appreciate" the monarchy and their unquestioned privilege while the masses were starving. So, you will have to forgive my humor at their expense--or not.
Our tour guide was wonderful. He had spent some time in Texas at the Dallas Museum of Art. Small world. He took great pains to explain to us that the kings really were very much for the people and welcomed them at court. Of course, they had to have the price of admission. That is, they had to be able to rent a scabbard and sword, which was the costume de regueur to be in the presence of the king.
As many of you probably know, many of the kings of France were Louis. A less well known fact is that their first names were all LeRoi. Note the "i" at the end, how pretentious. Evidently, in down time, they preferred to be called by this less formal name.
These first couple of pictures give you some sense of the opulence of the private quarters. Not all of the rooms are restored to this level of grandeur. For example, some are missing much of the gold leaf that is evident in these pictures.
LeRoi was quite the huntsman. In fact, Versailles began as a simple hunting lodge. Here, in an exterior courtyard, is a plaster head of a deer that contains the actual antlers of one of the deer that he killed.
Over the years, the various LeRois who occupied Versailles became increasingly obsessed with it, expanding the palace and the apartments to hold the ever-increasing court. At its maximum, the palace and apartments housed the king, the royal family, and 4,000 of his closest courtiers. And this was the place the king used to get away from Paris.
LeRoi's Barometer
Our tour guide explains some of the finer points of some aspect of this room (who can remember). In the mirror, you can see Jordan taking the picture, Jay, and Carl.
LeRoi's Clock
This piece was fascinating. It still works and was accurate, giving the date as well as the hour and minutes. The clock was manufactured to tell the time and date accurately until December 31, 9999. They wind the clock, on schedule, every two weeks.
The brass line crossing the floor is known as the Versailles Meridian. It was used to tell time and to set the clocks accurately. Although France is a relatively small country, each major city kept time according to its own Meridian. So, the time in Versailles, which was set according to the Versailles Meridian, was different from the time in Paris, which was set according to the Paris Meridian.
The parquet floors at Versailles are, as you see, quite intricate.
This pattern was created specifically for the palace at Versailles.
LeRoi's Rolltop Desk
As our tour guide explained, the roll top allowed the king to shut the desk in order to guard the privacy of his papers. Interestingly, the ink wells had to be replenished by servants on a daily basis. In order to accomplish this task, but maintain the privacy of LeRoi's papers, there was a rectangular drawer that slid open from the left side of the desk. The servants would slide out the drawer and fill the ink wells. This innovation allowed the king to avoid having his papers read or stolen by potential spies.
Looks like books, right? These were LeRoi's dispatch boxes, used to transport the King's papers, particularly those related to spying.
And no tour of the King's private apartments would be complete without a visit to LeRoi's mahogany toillette, furnished as you can see, with mood lighting.
LeRoi gives a shout out to Texas in the parquet in his private apartments
LeRoi's Library
Our guide explained that the books in the library had been sold off during the French Revolution. In preparation for Queen Elizabeth's state visit some years back, the French State Library had loaned volumes to Versailles so the room would not look so empty. Versailles chose not to return them. As the tour continued, we learned that Versailles managed to get a number of "loaner items" from various places, including the Louvre, that they managed to hang on to after Elizabeth's visit. From the perspective of the curators at Versailles, Liz should visit more regularly.
Chairs similar to the one in the foreground here are often found in Cathedrals in France. They serve as kneelers. This chair, called a voyeur's chair, was used by ladies at court to watch the male members at court at the gambling tables. LeRoi liked to gamble with his courtiers to keep them in his debt.
LeRoi's China
The king had an annual exhibition of china in the larger of the two dining rooms in his private apartments. He did so in order to encourage his courtiers to buy French porcelain rather than porcelain from other countries.
LeRoi's Opera House
The Opera House was very dimly lit so, unfortunately, most of the pictures were not clear. All of the decorations were carved from wood and painted to look like marble. In the lower portion of this picture, you can see three grilles. The center grille was at the front of the King's box, so that he could maintain privacy while attending the Opera. He did have the option of opening the grille so that he could be seen by the courtier's in attendance.
More Versailles later.
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