Royals of Versailles

The meeting point will be at the Entrance Versailles in the Information Building.

The client will be met by a special guide of Versailles where they will visit the secret petit apartments of the Kings Louis where is most personal affairs will be unraveled and deepest kept secrets. Versailles - A simple hunting lodging and later a small château with a moat occupied the site until 1661, when the first work expanding the château into a palace was carried out for Louis XIV. In 1682, when the palace had become large enough, the king moved the entire royal court and the French government to Versailles. Some of the palace furniture at this time was constructed of solid silver, but in 1689 much of it was melted down to pay for the cost of war. Subsequent rulers mostly carried out interior remodeling, to meet the demands of changing taste, although Louis XV did install an opera house at the north end of the north wing for the wedding of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette in 1770. The palace has also been a site of historical importance. The Peace of Paris (1783) was signed at Versailles, the Proclamation of the German Empire occurred in the vaunted Hall of Mirrors, and World War I was ended in the palace with the Treaty of Versailles, among many other events.

Petit Apartment - The petit appartement du roi of the Palace of Versailles is a suite of rooms used by Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. Located on the first floor of the palace, the rooms are found in the oldest part of the palace dating from the reign of Louis XIII. Under Louis XIV, these rooms housed the king's collections of artworks and books, forming a museum of sorts. Under Louis XV and Louis XVI, the rooms were modified to accommodate private living quarters. At this time, the rooms were transformed and their decoration represent some of the finest extant examples of the style Louis XV and style Louis XVI at Versailles. Louis XIV - Beginning in 1678, Louis XIV began to modify these rooms for his particular private needs. The configuration of the rooms dating from the time of Louis XIII was modified. The most significant alteration for this era was the relocation of the degré du roi from the exterior cour de marbre to the interior cour du roi. This relocation of the staircase precipitated the rearrangement of rooms in this part of the château to become the petit appartement du roi. In 1684, as the influence of Louis’ mistress – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan – waned due to her alleged involvement in the Affair of the Poisons, the king attached her rooms to his petit appartement after the marquise moved into the appartement des bains on the ground floor of the palace.

In Louis XIV's day, these rooms – cabinets de curiosités – formed a veritable museum for the king's private collections. In contrast to the grand appartement du roi and the appartement du roi, which were open to members of the court and the general public, the petit appartement du roi was only accessible though the personal consent of the king. Louis XV - After the return of the king and court to Versailles in 1722, life assumed a rhythm similar to that under Louis XIV. The young Louis XV occupied his great-grandfather's bedroom, the chambre de Louis XIV, where the ceremonies of the daily lever and coucher were executed with the same exacting precision as during the reign of the Sun King. However, owing to the discomfort of the room in winter – its size and eastern exposure made it difficult, if not impossible, to heat – Louis XV was compelled to establish his bedroom elsewhere.

In 1738, Louis XV ordered a new bedroom – chambre de Louis XV – constructed on the site of Louis XIV's salle du billard, which was enlarged to the north into the cour du roi to accommodate an alcove for the bed. In the same year, the degré du roi was demolished and a new staircase was built just north of the old location. A new room was constructed on the site formerly occupied by the degré du roi of Louis XIV, the antichambre des chiens As with his great-grandfather in his cabinet des chiens, Louis XV kept some of his hunting dogs in this room. Louis XVI - With the exception of reclaiming part of the apartment of Madame Adélaïde, Louis XVI chose to retain the décor of the petit appartement du roi as his grandfather had left it. The arrière cabinet of Louis XV was rechristened cabinet des dépêches; however, Louis XVI continued to use the room as day-to-day workroom as his grandfather had.

The guide will begin to introduce the Palace of Versailles to the clients as they walk towards the entrance of the chateau. Inside the chateau, the clients will visit the Grand Apartments one of many apartments of the King and head towards the Hall of mirrors. Versailles - A simple hunting lodging and later a small château with a moat occupied the site until 1661, when the first work expanding the château into a palace was carried out for Louis XIV. In 1682, when the palace had become large enough, the king moved the entire royal court and the French government to Versailles. Some of the palace furniture at this time was constructed of solid silver, but in 1689 much of it was melted down to pay for the cost of war. Subsequent rulers mostly carried out interior remodeling, to meet the demands of changing taste, although Louis XV did install an opera house at the north end of the north wing for the wedding of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette in 1770. The palace has also been a site of historical importance. The Peace of Paris (1783) was signed at Versailles, the Proclamation of the German Empire occurred in the vaunted Hall of Mirrors, and World War I was ended in the palace with the Treaty of Versailles, among many other events. Grands Apartment - The grand appartement du roi is the King's grand apartment of the Palace of Versailles.

As a result of Louis LeVau's envelope of Louis XIII’s château, the king and queen had new apartments in the new addition, known at the time as the château neuf (new palace). The State Apartments, which are known respectively as the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine, occupied the main or principal floor of the château neuf. LeVau’s design for the state apartments closely followed Italian models of the day, as evidenced by the placement of the apartments on the next floor up from the ground level – the piano nobile – a convention the architect borrowed from 16th- and 17th-century Italian palace design. Le Vau’s plan called for an enfilade of seven rooms, each dedicated to one of the then-known planets and their associated titular Roman deity. LeVau’s plan was bold as he designed a heliocentric system that centered on the salon d’Apollon. The salon d’Apollon originally was designed as the king’s bedchamber, but served as a throne room. The original arrangement of the enfilade of rooms was thus: Salon de Diane (Diana, Roman goddess of the hunt; associated with the Moon), Salon de Mars (Mars, Roman god of war; associated with the planet Mars), Salon de Mercure (Mercury, Roman god of trade, commerce, and the Liberal Arts; associated with the planet Mercury), Salon d’Apollon (Apollo, Roman god of the Fine Arts; associated with the Sun), Salon de Jupiter (Jupiter, Roman god of law and order; associated with the planet Jupiter), Salon de Saturne (Saturn, Roman god of agriculture and harvest), Salon de Vénus (Venus, Roman goddess of love; associated with the planet Venus).

The configuration of the grand appartement du roi conformed to contemporary conventions in palace design. However, owing to Louis XIV’s personal tastes[4] the grand appartement du roi was reserved for court functions — such as the thrice-weekly appartement evenings given by Louis XIV. The rooms were decorated by Charles LeBrun and demonstrated Italian influences (LeBrun met and studied with the famed Tuscan artist Pietro da Cortona, whose decorative style of the Pitti Palace in Florence LeBrun adapted for use at Versailles). The quadratura style of the ceilings evoke Cortona’s sale dei planeti at the Pitti, but LeBrun’s decorative schema is more complex. In his 1674 publication about the grand appartement du roi, André Félibien described the scenes depicted in the coves of the ceilings of the rooms as allegories depicting the “heroic actions of the king.” Accordingly, one finds scenes of the exploits of Augustus, Alexander the Great, and Cyrus alluding to the deeds of Louis XIV. For example, in the salon d’Apollon, the cove painting “Augustus building the port of Misenum” alludes to the construction of the port at La Rochelle; or, depicted in the south cove of the salon de Mercure is “Ptolemy II Philadelphus in his Library”, which alludes to Ptolemy’s construction of the Great Library of Alexandria and which accordingly serves as an allegory to Louis XIV’s expansion of the Bibliothèque du roi. 

Complementing the rooms’ decors were pieces of massive silver furniture. Regrettably, owing to the War of the League of Augsburg, in 1689 Louis XIV ordered all of this silver furniture to be sent to the mint, to be melted down to help defray the cost of the war. Hall of Mirrors - The Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), is perhaps the most famous room in the château of Versailles. It took the place of the rooftop terrace overlooking the gardens which formerly connected the apartments of the King and Queen. The construction of the room began in 1678 and finished in 1689. The gallery is more than 70 metres (230 ft) long, and it is lined with 17 wide arcaded mirrors, designed to match and reflect the windows opposite facing the gardens. Charles Le Brun painted thirty scenes of the early reign of Louis XIV on the ceiling. The centerpiece is a painting of the King titled, ""The King Governing Alone"". It shows Louis XIV, facing the powers of Europe, turning away from his pleasures to accept a crown of immortality from Glory, with the encouragement of Mars. The hall was originally furnished with solid silver furniture designed by Le Brun, but these furnishings were melted down in 1689 to help pay for war expenses.

The King kept a silver throne, usually located in the Salon of Apollo, which was brought to the Hall of Mirrors for formal ceremonies, such as the welcome of foreign ambassadors, including a delegation from the King of Siam in 1686. It was also used for large events, such as full-dress and masked balls. Light was provided by candelabra on large gilded guerdirons lining the hall. Those on display today were made in 1770 for the marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, based on the moldings of earlier silver versions made by LeBrun that had been melted down. The twenty-four crystal chandeliers were hung only for special occasions. Courtiers gathered in the Hall to watch the King walk from his apartments to the chapel, and sometimes took the occasion to present him with requests.

The guide will walk with the clients through the gardens of Versailles exploring the magical fountain shows while the guide continues on how the King used to retreat in the gardens. Versailles Gardens - The Gardens of Versailles occupy part of what was once the Domaine royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre In addition to the meticulous manicured lawns, parterres, and sculptures are the fountains, which are located throughout the garden. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends from late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux – spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.

The guide will bring the clients back to the entrance of Versailles or leave the clients in the gardens.