In the French language the palace at Versailles is referred to as a “chateau”. A chateau! A chateau can be a mansion, a manor house, sometimes a castle (if fortified) and sometimes a palace. Oh yes, the Sun King’s country estate was definitely a palace – over the top. It’s easy to see the social class disconnect and royal fiscal mismanagement that led to the French Revolution and the demise of the Sun King (Louis XIV).
I bet you can imagine an angry, ragged mob with pikes and axes on this side of the gate, and quivering powdered wigs on the other side.The Hall of the Sun King. I made up that title for this image. I can't remember what part of the palace this was, it may have been outside of the Hall of Mirrors.The Fountain of Latona - designed by Balthazar Marsy - strikes me as having some of the characteristics of Paul DiPasquale's Arthur Ashe monument in Richmond, VA. Note the figures rising from the water. Much like the children rising from - I don't know, what is it, middle earth (?) - in the Ashe monument.The Parterre d'Eau (Flowerbed of Water). When I pulled this slide out I first thought "I found Neptune!" That's an inside joke for a few buddies, but this subject isn't Neptune. It's simply a mythological-style figure by Jean-Baptiste Tuby, meant to represent the Le Rhone river. I tweaked this image after I saw a Eugene Atget shot of the same sculpture. Note the cozy scale of the palace.The palace bus stop. (Just kidding, buses can't get near the palace.)
albert vick 