Sun Lion
Heir Presumptive
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2012
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- 2,229
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- Sydney
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- Australia
Fabulous pictures! Glad you are enjoying Versailles
it could so easily been burned to the ground or vandalized and destroyed.
then the brutal Revolution brought that glittering and romantic world to an end and things have never been the same since .... but lets remember it was revolutionary events in America ... aided and abetted by Louis 15th ..... that inspired the French Revolution
Only parts of the park are free to the public. For the gardens directly behind the chateau and around the domain of the queen with the Grand Triannon, Petit Triannon and the Village of the Queen, you have to buy a ticket. But when you consider how much work goes into the up-keep of the baroque gardens, then it seems natural that they have to charge people for entering.I think I read.... maybe years ago... that the grounds of Versailles... of course a massive acreage.... are free and open to the public
A charge is made to enter the Palace and tour in there of course.
So its a good deal for the tourist and especially for people lucky enough to live in the village of Versailles.
I think the French are lucky too that the Palace survived all those tragic and bloody years of the revolution.... it could so easily been burned to the ground or vandalized and destroyed.
The Sun King was very wise to build the Palace a healthy distance from Paris ...( 20 plus miles) ..... and the Parisian Mobs .
The sans cullots must have been overawed by the splendour of Versailles and decided they could nt destroy such a French National Treasure
...
yet they could destroy the Bastille... and remove it stone by stone.... !
till there is nothing of it remaining.....
The Bastille could have been a huge tourist attraction for Paris if it was still there !
The hyper modern l'Opéra de Bastille and the gigantic Bibliothèque Nationale de France which are now on that site are mega public magnets. In my humble opinion less successful "Grands Projects" of President Mitterrand in esthétique, compared to La Défense or the Pyramid in front of the Louvre, but in terms of visitors the Bastille simply is a success. The whole neglected and impoverished Quartier de Bastille has had an enormous boost, in the 30 years this project stands.