This week's post is on the Palace of Versailles. Having become bored with the
flooding/storms of England, it was decided that my boyfriend and I would visit
the City of Love (Paris- duh!) for a brief rest bite from our studies.
One day to be exact... Here's a rather rushed view of the Palace of Versailles-
enjoy!
The Palace is
situated in the suburbs of Paris and so after a 20 minutes train ride from the Eiffel
Tower we arrived and made our way up the Palace. I'll admit it isn't that well
signposted, I guess because people usually look it up beforehand but we found
our way there after a few wrong turns. We approached the ticket desk with
anticipation, expecting to pay 15€ at least. To our surprise, because we are
under 25 years old it was free! FREE!!! Something I have come across
while being in Europe on previous occasions is the excellent discounts young
people get from museums and heritage industries- take note Britain, if you want
to the youth to come visit your attraction, give us an incentive! Charging more
than a tenner is going to put off many students and 20-somethings. When it is a
choice between going to a historic attraction or being able to afford to eat
that evening, you are going to lose out (unless you are a history student, in
which case you make do with the mouldy looking cheese in your fridge and beg
for food from others.)
Anyway, as the photos
suggest, the Palace oozes grand displays of wealth and power. Each room is
breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time haunting. Whilst walking round,
dodging cameras and other tourists, I couldn't help but think of the fate of
those who lived here during the 1780s and the grisly end of the King and Queen
of France. I felt that the Revolution was largely ignored in the visual
information, with only brief panels explaining the history of the building
towards the end, but having said this, I cannot comment on whether the audio
guides mentioned it. The overriding theme of the Palace was 'look how rich our
monarchy was, how extravagant!' without going into detail about the political
and social issues which arose during the Revolution which I would have found
very interesting and expected to learn about. Each room was packed with
tourists taking photos of the decor and themselves without fully engaging with
the history on a deeper level. It felt like a competition to see who could get
the most high definition image of Louis XVI's bedcover rather than learning. For
example, little was said about the Women's March on Versailles in October
5th/6th 1789, where at least three people were killed by rioters seeking a fair
price for food and for the King to return to Paris. Marie Antoinette had to run
for her life to the King's bedchamber to avoid being murdered by those who
invaded the Palace because of her unpopularity with the people. This was
briefly mentioned on one panel which simply said: 'On October 6th 1786,
Marie Antoinette escaped from a rioting crowd by the door on the left of the
bed to take refuge in the King's bedchamber.' Seeing the door was
fascinating but I had to do my own research into what actually took place on
that date, a fact which I have taken for granted as usual practice in places of
historical significance. I would like to use the excuse that because I do not
speak/read French, I was missing out on information but there were direct
translations from the French to the English panels without further
illustrations on the French ones. Next time, I will make sure to get an audio
guide but I resent the fact that the only way for me to potentially learn more
about the Palace is through paying for an audio guide which may or may not
satisfy my want for its history. History should be accessible in a variety of
ways, not just at an auditory level. The beauty of the Palace removes focus
from its fascinating history, leaving those who wanted to learn more about the
French monarchy and the Revolution intellectually dissatisfied.
Enjoy the
photographs, I felt compelled to be glued to my camera with everyone
else.
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| 'All that glitters is not (historical) gold.' |
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| Entrance- quite flashy |
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| 'Secret door to the King's Bedchamber.' |
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| Found this quite sinister considering the fate of the Queen- dress your child like the most hated woman in France during the 1780s! |
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| Hall of Mirrors (and camera flashes) |
