The Palace of Versailles still remains the ultimate luxury destination just as it was in the 1700’s.  Traveling to Versailles by train from Paris is a long journey.  I recommend taking a picnic basket or backpack with snacks, water or a picnic lunch.   Scaffolds were covering most of the walls during my visit (2007-8) masking walls, doors and windows of the palace which created an interesting contrast.  The grandeur of a 300 year old residence combined with industrial structures of the restoration felt very modern like a setting for a newly translated Moliere play. Everywhere you look from the gardens, planters, fountains, statues to the doorknobs, windows and balustrades are a designer’s feast for the eyes. Here is one ultimate French experience that feels like a grand rich feast: best to take it one course at a time.

I did this visit with a lovely lunch during a particularly wet month of June with an umbrella and able and handsome French companion. I found myself in the gardens near a grand fountain with a glass of wine in hand just as the droplets of rain began to fall.  On another day the following year,  I re-visited Marie Antoinette’s country abode the “Petite Ferme”.   The cottage gardens had been planted with glorious flowers warming in the sunshine.  The apple trees in the gardens are the feature of the Japanese luxury tea called “Marie Antoinette” made by NINA’s tea available from their charming shop just off the Place Vendome.  I am sipping this tea right now as I write this and it smells of the apple blossoms and apples picked directly from the trees on this farm, courtesy of Marie herself.

Marie Antoinette has been re-visited from a historical context by historians and her “reputation” as one of the original “lifestyle” marketers is just now being realized.   She took up where others before her had begun by expanding on French industry, arts and culture.  The fact that her husband was bankrupting the coffers of France in his support of American Independence has been quite (ahem) overlooked by the stories of her excesses.   Her extraordinary additions and improvements to the Palace of Versailles and contribution to France’s industry and culture have been largely ignored until now*.  The Petite Trianon, the Grand Trianon, the Farm, the Theater, all remain today as evidence.  Sophia Coppola aptly portrays Marie Antoinette as a fashion diva, a trendsetter and tragically foolish in her remake of her life.  Whether you agree or not, the film does show us the halls of Versailles, its grandeur and sheer magnitude and ability to dwarf one’s own existence.   With definitive details at every turn, the Palace of Versailles is an ongoing series we hope you’ll enjoy and we’ll dig deep into history to find out the “secrets” and “lies” told about this world class landmark property and its powerful influence on social, political and cultural ideas. We think its more than a landmark.  It’s designer notebook and “How To” Guide for all things French, “Naturelement!”

NOTE:  During the same period the building that is now the Hotel Crillon was built and it should be noted that Marie Antoinette was also a visitor there as a young girl taking music lessons, in preparation for her marriage to the future king.

The Editor

* A note to Madame Pompadour, who started most of this before Marie’s time and these luxury traditions still fuel the French economy today.