On visiting Versailles

While visiting Paris we’ll squeeze at least half a day for Versailles.  One doesn’t have to know anything about Louis XIV to enjoy the grandeur and majesty of the Versailles Palace.  Extravagant though Louis XIV might be, he gave the Europe the symbol of French power and influence, embodiment of classical French art.  He also gave future generations of France the source of endless tourists money, just like Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) did to China by building the Great Wall and his tomb.

Oeil0-de-Boeuf

But knowing how Louis XIV personally involved in building Versailles or how the mob chased Marie Antoinette from the Queen Chamber, through Oeil-de-Boeuf, to the King’s Bedroom at the beginning of French Revolution will make one think while on the ground of Versailles; I think therefore I am!

The reception of du Grand Conde by Louis XIV in Versailles

The above photo shows a painting of the reception at Versailles; a general received by Louis XIV. It is flamboyantly colorful; the painting was done in 1878, a bit more than 200 years after the event in 1674.  So I don’t know how faithfully it reflects the true event; nevertheless, it is a stark contrast when Benjamin Franklin was received by Louis XVI on March 20, 1778, over a year and a half after he arrived at Paris. (I believe this painting hangs in d'Orsay Museum, which is also on our itinerary.)

“Franklin, true to his popular reputation for democratic simplicity, did not present himself in gay court costume amid the grandeur of Versailles.  Instead, he wore plain brown velvet, white stockings, and spotless linen.” (This is from a book called The Age of Idea.)

More people may be more interested in history had the camera been invented, say, 500 years or even 1000 years ago.  History will be more vivid, alive and less controversial.

Louis XIV

Marie Antoinette

The Queen's Chamber

A ‘victory’ walk along Ave Champs-Elysees from Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde

While visiting Paris we’ll walk from Arc de Triomphe, along Ave Champs-Elysees, to Place de la Concorde, many people will be in my thought, the likes of Churchill, FDR, Ike, Omar Bradley, Patton, de Gaulle and also Hitler.

After the victory in the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon promised his troops, “You shall go home beneath triumphal arches,” thus born the Arc de Triomphe.  We saw the victory parade along Avenue Champs-Elysees after WWI and WWII.
 
When Churchill visited Paris on 11/10/1944, de Gaulle treated him with a splendid parade along Ave Champs-Elysees from Place de la Concorde to Arc de Triomphe.  He laid a wreath beneath the statue of Clemenceau, who was much in his thought on that occasion; Churchill so wrote in his The Second World War (Vol. 6).

He stayed at Quai d’Orsay (We’ll visit Musee d’Orsay—just across La Seine from Place de la Concorde, after the walk along Ave Champs-Elysees.)  Churchill was assured to “sleep the same bed and use the same bathroom as had Goering”, used by Goering means the best of the best.
 
We often see the photos of German troops marching on the Ave Champs-Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, but there was no official parade for Hitler when Paris fell in June 1940.
 
When asked why no parade held for him in Paris, Hitler reportedly said, “You cannot do this to highly cultured people.”  If it were true that he said that, I think it was the security concern, not that he was so sensitive.
 
Hitler did tour Paris for three hours; I’ll talk about this when I come to the Opera House (Palais Garnie).

There are many buildings to see during this walk including Palais de la Dccouverte and Petit Palais (both are museums; one science, the other art), which are sandwiched between Ave Franklin Roosevelt and Ave Winston Churchill.  French are appreciative people; without FDR and Churchill France or Paris couldn’t be liberated.

American troops on Ave Champs-Elysees

de Gaulle on Ave Champs-Elysees

Place de la Concorde