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Paris,
Excursions Château de Versailles: No sooner had Louis XIV set eyes on his finance minister’s château at Vaux‐le‐Victomte, than he decided to build one bigger and better. The result is one of the three most visited monuments in France. Construction began in 1664 and continued until Louis XIV’s death in 1715. Much of the palace can only be visited with a guide, with the notable exception of the 73m (240ft) Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, bringing World War I to an end. It is worth queuing for a guided tour, if only to recapture the ritualistic atmosphere of the reign of the Sun King, whose actions were considered as miraculous as the movements of the sun itself. The honoured elite among the 20,000 courtiers and royal ministers were obliged to relocate to the palace and observed these banal rituals with awe. Guided visits of the château (tel: (01) 3083 7800; fax: (01) 3084 7564; ) cost &Euro;7.50 (concessions available). Entry to the formal gardens alone costs &Euro;3 (free in winter months). The chateau and gardens are set in a landscaped park, designed by Le Nôtre, which is open daily from 0700 (0800 in winter) until sunset and is free. The château itself is open Tuesday to Sunday 0900‐1730 (until 1830 April to October). The grounds are so large that a little train chugs from the palace to the former royal love nests: the Grand and Petit Trianons (open daily 1200‐1730; until 1830 April to October). The Italianate Grand Trianon was built in 1687 for Louis XIV to enjoy the company of Madame de Maintenon. Napoléon also had a penchant for this building, on a somewhat more human scale than the château, and stayed there with Marie‐Louise. Louis XV had Gabriel build the Petit Trianon in the 1760s for his mistress Madame de Pompadour. Admission costs &Euro;5 to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon combined. The château – and everything on site – is free to everyone on the first Sunday of the month in November to March. Versailles is easily accessible from central Paris via the RER line C5 to Versailles‐Rive Gauche. For a Whole Day Giverny: Monet lived in countrified Giverny, 80km (50 miles) northwest of Paris, from 1883 until his death in 1926. The house, in which he painted his last, vast waterlily canvas, is open to the public as Musée Claude Monet. Although the house retains much of its charm, the artist’s studio is now a large and over‐commercialised gift shop – Monet is, after all, big business. Although many of the original paintings are now at the Musée d’Orsay, the inspiration behind them remains here: the famed waterlily pond and Japanese footbridges. The museum, 84 rue Claude Monet (tel: (02) 3251 2821; fax: (02) 3251 5418; ), is open Tuesday‐Sunday 0930‐1800 April‐October. Admission prices are &Euro;5.50 for the house and garden and &Euro;4 for the gardens only. A few minutes away, in 99 rue Claude Monet, the Musée d’Art Américain (tel: (02) 3251 9465; fax: (02) 3251 9467; ), is a shrine to Monet‐influenced American artists, such as Winslow Homer and Mary Cassatt. Opening hours are Tuesday‐Sunday 1000‐1800 April‐October and admission costs &Euro;5. By car, visitors should take the A13 runs from Paris to Bonnières onto the D201 to Giverny. Alternatively, the train from Gare St‐Lazare Station goes to Vernon, from where visitors should take a taxi or bus to Giverny. |