I ventured a little out of town to a village called Versailles (pronunced Ver-Sails, the second last e is silent). The main reason for going was to see the Palace of Versailles. King Louis XIV built the palace because in the late 1600’s, his Parisian palace (the Louvre) was being overrun by tourists trying to get a selfie with the Mona Lisa. The Louvre isn’t small – about 210 000 square metres. He built Chateau Versailles in an attempt to get into the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest Royal Domain. He smashed the record and is still in there to this day.
The picture above is the house from the back – but it doesn’t do it justice, so here’s a link to Street View
Now keeping in mind this palace is gigantic, check out his backyard (the house is labelled Chateau down the bottom).
Yes, that’s right folks… he has segways and golf carts for hire to get around his backyard. And so here comes the history lesson:
Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XIV (I don’t know why he changed the spelling of his surname) loved the backyard of the Palace of Versailles. He grew up there, he had his own pimped out segway that he would use to get around the grounds, why wouldn’t he love it… But he hated it when the grass grew too long. If it got too long, he’d bust out his guillotine and punish the head gardener.
When the young Napoleon Bonaparte, head gardener of the palace, was summoned to the throne room one afternoon, Bonaparte managed to overcome the executioner and take control of the throne. It is said that before Louis XVI was beheaded, he cursed France to never see victory ever again.
Louis XVI’s death started what is now known as the French Revolution… which they lost.
Below is a Versailles local, Jacques, who plays Napoleon Bonaparte in the daily re enactment of the start of the French Revolution.
