Sorry it took me so long to post this final Paris Postcard. In my defense, I was busy rewatching Sophia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” so I could repeatedly exclaim, “Hey, we were there!” And I was sick. And Jeff was sicker. Our house was a little depressing last week.
Anyway, this post is all about our final day in Paris, when we took our sole out-of-the-city day trip, to the Palace of Versailles. I was prepared for opulence and grandeur (and the palace and gardens did not disappoint), but what I was not prepared for was to come face to face with my fantasy farm!
While I try hard not to romanticize the idea of the small farm, because I know logically that farming is hard, often dirty, work, I fess up that several years ago I fell in love with the idea of small-scale farming, growing produce for farmers markets, etc. We even started looking for acreage…and then we decided to move back to Seattle proper, instead.
You may be familiar with the part of Marie Antoinette’s tragically short history in which she played at being a milkmaid in a far-off corner of the Versailles palace gardens. Well, this wee little hamlet that she commissioned is alive and well (although a few buildings didn’t survive the centuries).
It is also a veritable utopia of farm animals living in free range harmony! Bunnies:
Bunnies and chickens:
The most porcine of pigs:
Sheep:
Sheep and goats:
Ummm…and some fancy sculpted busts, like you would find on any farm:
I think this was my favorite part of Versailles. I could have camped out here all day. It was peaceful, because it was a looong walk out her from the palace, and the little shuttle trolleys that ferried people to the nearby Petit and Grand Trianons didn’t go to the farm. If you aren’t familiar with the Trianons, they’re where the royals went to get away from court life in the palace, but they were still pretty opulent.
The Petit Trianon was built for Louis XV’s primary mistresses, and Louis XVI gave it to his bride, Marie Antoinette. Only her inner circle was invited:
They probably hung out a lot in the salon:
Poor Marie was really misunderstood:
The view from inside the Temple of Love:
The Grand Trianon, aka the King’s escape, was a bit more opulent:
And then there was this old shack that they call a palace:
I thought the Louvre had a lot of statuary, but the Versailles palace and gardens may win that little competition:
It was so exciting to finally be in the Hall of Mirrors. Just look at the ceiling:
And the chapel:
Versailles was fantastic, I highly recommend it! Get there when they open if you want to avoid the worst crowds in the palace…and make sure you see the farm!
Tomorrow…back to our regularly scheduled nutrition-related programming!
