One of the lovely things about Europe is that there are a multitude of languages spoken there. Because of this, major tourist destinations like museums and estates have audio tours. They give you this little hand-held device that has numbers on it, and throughout the museum or house, things are numbered. Punch in the number and hear about what you're seeing--super cool! I think some places in America do this, but it isn't seen quite as frequently in my experience.
So imagine that I am your audio guide through the Palace of Versailles. First, I am going to take you into the entryway. You will see the chapel. Louis XIV had a chapel built inside his house. You can see the massive pipe organ--it is so tall, it is seen best from the second floor!
This is the ceiling in the chapel. Can you imagine the number of hours it took someone to stand on a ladder or some sort of scaffolding and paint that? Yeah, it took a long time.
Look at this statue. Isn't it a nice statue? I wish the entry rooms in my house had statues like these. Unfortunately, audio guides do not explain what every single thing in the room is. And I really don't know what the specifics of this statue are.
This is not the chapel ceiling. This is the ceiling in the first room after the chapel, called the Hercules Drawing Room. Louis XIV was really into Roman mythology, so many of the rooms are named or decorated for Roman gods and goddesses.
This is the fireplace in the Hercules Drawing Room. Can you imagine how much wood was needed to keep a fire going?
There are doors like this throughout the palace--very tall, very ornate. I think a pair would go very nicely in the classroom, don't you?
Tomorrow I will show you one of the most famous rooms in the Palace of Versailles--get excited!
No comments:
Post a Comment