Before we went to visit Monet's house and garden at Giverny, we stopped off at another house on the way. This one had been occupied by French royalty however, and mon dieu, don't the French like a bit of decoration?! Welcome to the Chateau de Versailles, where too much gold leaf is never enough.
They used it on the walls and on the ceilings and on the light fittings...
They used in on the paintings and over the fireplace. Yes, those are whole trees in that fireplace.
Here's a demure little treatment in the Queen's bed chamber and below is a glimpse of part of the garden. There is opulence and extravagance all around. No wonder the peasants revolted!
One thing that the French do very well however, is the tree lined footpaths. Each town has their own variation on the theme, but the idea is very civilised, comfortable and quite splendid looking, n'est-ce pas?
3 comments:
Opulence was rife in those circles back then. They were always trying to outdo each other's family with size and decorations. Interesting to see how they lived though.
Loving you blog Karen. Am still very jealous. My 13 year old daughter came home from the art gallery on the weekend with a great quote that went something like. The world is a book and if you never see it, you dont get past the first page. Please have a macron for me, pistachio is my favorite(but I'm not too fussy). take care. Look forward to next installment. Lara
You have really captured the essence of Versailles! What a spectacualr palace.
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