In the middle of this past summer, the McLean family took a trip to France. For some crazy reason, my wife allowed me to stuff the trip full of maritime museums and other historical things. (Okay, Mont St Michel was a joint thing). Because we hit up so many things, this will definitely be a new blog series, hopefully once a month. In this post, I’ll show a few photos from Versailles- but not from the Palace or Gardens, because they were closed due to extreme heat. (This was a recurring theme during our trip, unfortunately).
So I’m going to share a few photos from what we were able to do in a few hours wander around Versailles
I’m not sure where this is, but I was very much entranced by this tree and the building behind.
Thisi s where I recognized a London Plane tree for the first time. Since I first heard about these in Monty Don’s French Garden’s series, I have wanted to see one. I’ve since learned they’re considered an invasive pest in California where they cross breed make trouble for the California plane trees (I believe the London Plane is a cross between the California one and a different one)
our first glance of something Versailles-ish from the car.
our hotel had some entrancing art on the walls, I loved this one.
A good up close and personal look at a London Plane tree. which were brought into Versailles by Dan Kiley, the landscape architect. I find these absolutely fascinating and I love that they’re an environmental adaption for smog. They’re everywhere in Versailles.
one of the very few shady places we found in Versailles that day- just looking at the gates of the palace itself. The shade didn’t do anything for the heat. Our original plan had been to grab food from a depanneur or a Paris equivalent and have dinner in the gardens. Unfortunately, with Fête de la Musique going on while we were there, and with the heat the Gardens were closed to visitors at 1630.
Back out into the sun, to have a good shot of the Palace of Versailles.
I knew Versailles was much more than a palace, but I didn’t really understand its place and surroundings at all. This was truly remarkable and very much needed. It’s amazing how many of the buildings and the roads still respect the 17th and 18th Century things.
Equestrian statue of Louis XIV. A remarkable statue, all things considered.
A different view of the Equestrian statue.
I was lucky enough to be able to see up this driveway into the Palace/Gardens just to have a glimpse of the garden. Very shortly this was closed by some Soldiers.
Another view just some more feet down the road to the left- this is the staircase you can just see in the previous photo. I know it’s cliche to say this reminds me of Hampton Court (the Stuart bits) because it’s the opposite causality but I do adore this stuff.
I wonder if these palms are in Versailles planters and go inside in the winter into the Orangerie or something similar. They seemed truly happy and at home in the heat we were having.
This is la pièce d’eau des Suisses, an artificial lake that was dug apparently by a regiment of Swiss Guards between 1679 and 1682. It was a remarkable place to relax for a few minutes before going to find dinner.
This was fascinating. A bunch of teenagers marched out of Versailles, escorted by members of the Foreign Legion. They looked both very high school and not very military. I have no idea.
War Memorial, French style. Utterly fascinating in how different it is from the British/Canadian/Commonwealth memorials, especially the Lutyens style ones that are so familiar to Canadians & Brits.
This has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was hilarious.
Okay, so the rest of the blog series to come: I’ll try to add links as I write them. I’m hoping to do one blog post a month
Entry 2: Mont St Michel Part 1
Entry 3: Mont St Michel Part 2
Entry 4: St Malo
Entry 5: La Rochelle Maritime Museum
Entry 6: La Rochelle Aquarium
Entry 7: Bordeaux Maritime Museum & Submarine Docks
Entry 8: Saint Emilion
Entry 9: Carcassonne
Entry 10: The Trees of Carcassonne.
