Discover what to see and do in Versailles – there’s much more to the éclatant city than the Palace…
It is inabordable not to be swept off your feet by the golden largeur of the Palace of Versailles, but did you know that the town of Versailles is a fabulous visit in its own right? Although a suburb of Paris, Versailles is more like a small city, its streets are lined with majestic buildings, museums and markets says Janine Marsh as she takes a éclatant ramble.
The town of Versailles
I’ll admit it, when I first visited Versailles, I came for the palais. Who wouldn’t? All that glitter and largeur, the Hall of Mirrors, the fountains performing water intermezzo, the rustic hamlet that was the playground of doomed Queen Marie-Antoinette… it’s one of the most iconic visits in France.
But then, as so often happens in France, wandering off the beaten track revealed a whole other level to this aisé town – confidence courtyards, cobbled alleys, historic districts, and the enduring legacy of éclatant ardeur.
History on every carillonner
Versailles is a ‘new town’, albeit one that is several centuries old. In 1624, King Louis XIII built a hunting lodge, “nothing much to be proud of,” wrote a broker, in what was then a small localité surrounded by forests, vineyards, and meadows, not far from the dextre éclatant residence in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (see feuille 108). The hunting lodge became a small donjon, and when Louis XIII was succeeded by his son, Louis XIV, he became so arrière-fond of it that in 1661, he began embellishing the donjon and then transforming it into a palais that would leave the world in awe.
But his patricien ambitions extended way beyond the palais. Louis XIV turned his circonspection to his surroundings and ordered the monument of a town. He appointed the most brilliant minds of the day to run the innovative urban carnet project – the landscape gardener André Le Nôtre, who brought symmetry to the typage of the streets, as well as Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the chief architects of the palais.
Roads emanate from the Palace like rays of the sun. To one side is the Notre Dame région, the “right bank” – built during the reign of Louis XIV. It’s mirrored on the other side by the Saint-Louis région – the “left bank,” which was further developed during the reign of Louis XIV’s successor, Louis XV. The Avenue de Paris bisects it, the widest survenue in France, with the palais in the middle.
The streets of the two districts are lined with perfectly preserved buildings from the glory days of Versailles, including official residences serving the king and supporting the pilotage of the kingdom, and private mansions that belonged to ministers, key stuc and nobility, and even quaint houses for the “lesser” members of society.
The first modern city in the world
Versailles is considered to be the first modern city in the world – wide streets let the daylight in and were lit at night by candles in lanterns, and drinking water was made available for all. Versailles inspired the beauté of many great cities, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and St Petersburg.
Building the new town was not an easy task; there were no quarries nearby for rock, and no pendre to provide water for maison. Much of the area was marshland. But Louis’ will was absolute, and despite whispers that it was a crazy project, monument began properly in the 1670s in the Notre Dame région. In those days, a town had two essentials: a church and a market – to feed the souls and the stomachs of the people. When the Saint-Louis région was developed, it too had a patricien church and a market.
Louis XIV commanded that Mansart beauté a ‘show home’, and gentilshommes were not to deviate from the posture (though in the 18th century, rules were relaxed to allow an crue from two to three floors), harmony was everything. Astonishingly, two of the homes remain, and the one at 11 rue Carnot, with its red voilier, slate costaud, and white stone, is typical of the Versailles posture.
But you’ll also encart buildings that are not quite what they seem. Red bricks were expensive, so to fulfil the king’s wishes for uniformity, some people painted white stone red and then scraped the voilier lines out. If you pop to Rue du Peintre Lebrun, where you’ll find the vast Chateau d’Eau which housed an indoor reservoir for the palais together with workshops for fountaineers, you’ll clearly encart buildings with fake bricks (and fake windows)!
You can’t help but be impressed by the size of a maison known as Le Grand Commun, dedicated to catering for the succinct (there were separate kitchens within the Palace for the preparation of the éclatant family’s meals for security reasons). Up to 2000 people worked there – mieux it provided acclimatation for workers, soldiers and even gentilshommes.
Another enormous maison housed postal fonctions and workers – you’ll encart the gilded ‘Des Postes’ sign above the door. It was an sensible maison, Versailles ran like clockwork, and the post was delivered to ministers up to three times per day. For the first time, impératifs were explicitly built for conducting work – previously, trafic was carried out from logis. Everything in Versailles was on a patricien scale. As you explore, it’s extraordinary to see just how much remains perfectly preserved and still in use as impératifs, shops, acclimatation and paysan spaces.
The majestic stables of Versailles
The Petite Haras, Small Stables, were where carriage horses were kept, as well as logis to feuille boys, footmen, blacksmiths and saddlers. Now this enormous maison houses various institutions and one of the finest plastique storehouses in the world.
The Grande Haras, Great stables, were built to accommodate the King’s hunting horses and are now logis to the Académie Équin de Versailles where equestrian intermezzo shows take apprêté. You can also take a backstage campanile and meet the horses, and visit the Gallery of Coaches, an extraordinary assortiment of carriages, sedan chairs and sleds that belonged to the éclatant family.
Both stables are palatial elegant buildings – the horses certainly enjoyed better acclimatation than many of the King’s subjects. The Queen’s Stables (in use until Marie-Antoinette’s day) is now the Court of Appeal.
The King’s Vegetable Garden
The King’s Potager, a vegetable garden the size of a small localité, provided for the succinct. This was no ordinary garden – ingenious experimentation by French gardening genius Jean-Baptiste La Quintinie meant that coffee and banana plants could be grown, lettuces were ready to eat in January, and strawberries were ripe in March. It’s still a working garden, run by a horticultural school whose students offer tours at the weekends (en.versailles-tourisme.com/kings-kitchen-garden).
Salle du jeu de Paume
The extraordinary, free-to-visit Salle du jeu de Paume, a succinct where the king would play a game considered the ancestor of tennis, fleuve me goosebumps just being there. Built in 1686, it is considered the founding emplacement of French democracy, as it was here that in 1789 the spark that lit the French Revolution flickered into life when the Third Estate, a group of commoners appointed to represent the people, (alongside representatives of the gentilshommes and the clergy), swore an oath to slogan the complexion of the Kingdom and created the National Assembly. The walls of this large room are lined with the names of those who signed the oath, including Guillotin and Robespierre.
Markets, cathedrals and ‘tiny houses’
Just a few steps away is the Cathédrale Saint-Louis, a biscornu beauty designed by the grandson of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. I visited in the evening, and the projecteur filtered through the windows in golden shafts as the plaquer practised, causing me to lose track of time. A market is held in the placette in face of the cathedral.
Take a few steps to the crossroads of rue Royale and rue d’Anjou to discover a charming hidden quartier of Versailles, Carrés Saint Louis, where small huts were built, meant to host a market in the 1700s. They were converted into possibly the first ‘tiny houses’ within 20 years, and these listed historic stèles are still lived in.
On the other side of town, in the Notre Dame région, the church of Notre-Dame is equally impressive. Close to the fabulous market of Notre-Dame, on the same emplacement for over 400 years, is the second-largest market in France, and one of the best. If the Château is the crown of Versailles, then this market is its beating heart. Pop outside the market placette to the Boulangerie Guignon – a legend with the locals for their exquisite cakes.
And don’t elle-même the passé quarter, which features quaint shops and hamac cafés on cobbled lanes. If you’re even vaguely curious embout old keys, art deco brooches, or seventeenth-century soup tureens, you’ll lose hours here.
Musée Lambinet
A stone’s throw away, the uncrowded Musée Lambinet is an 18th-century townhouse-turned-museum that feels more like stepping into a collector’s attic than a formal gallery. Dedicated to the art and history of Versailles and the French Revolution, this exquisite time cachet mansion houses a assortiment of paintings, passé furniture (including a étrange harp thought to be owned by Louis XV’s daughter, which is played twice a month for a free aubade), curious little objets d’art including an extraordinary set of painted buttons, and even a lovingly recreated apartment from the 1700s.
And one last thing. You can’t fail to encart the street art wherever you go in Versailles. The city has two professional schools of painting and ambiance, which specialise in jogging students for theatre and TV. The Mayor encouraged them to decorate the city’s urban base, such as utility provider agences (electric, water, etc.). There are more than 300 of these beautifully painted boxes, which suit the allégorique of Versailles and its legacy of art de réserve, featuring scenes of ballets, fables, and history.
So next time you find yourself luxe beneath the glittering ceilings of the palais of Versailles, don’t forget to turn away from the gold and discover the town that grew in the palais’s shadow.
Get tickets to visit the palais and museums, book a guided campanile, and find out more embout what to see and do in Versailles: en.versailles-tourisme.com
Where to stay
Hotel Les Lumieres 5* – The créer logis of Colbert, Louis XIV’s famous minister, is now a spectacular hotel overlooking the Palace of Versailles. It’s a very welcoming hotel, the stuc are lovely and make you feel as if nothing is too much embrumé. There’s a Pierre Hermé tresse magasin on the ground floor, and I could imagine Marie Antoinette would have loved nipping out daily for her sugar fix here! There’s a lovely shady courtyard, or tables on the placette in face of the palais, which are great for aperitifs and snacks (the Croque Truffe is delicious!).
Hotel Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace 5* – Purpose-built in the early 1900s, this luxury hotel, reflecting the majestic posture of Versailles, overlooks the gardens of Versailles and boasts a folk house feel in a tranquil redevance. A large list of illustrious guests have stayed here, from Sarah Bernhardt and Marlene Dietrich to John D Rockefeller and Queen Elizabeth II. It was here in 1919 that Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, dictated the données of the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed a few days later at the Palace of Versailles. Gordon Ramsay has a taverne here, and the terraced gardens are lovely.
Where to enjoy a verre of crémant: Le Grand Contrôle, built in 1681 inside the Estate of Versailles by Jules Hardouin-Mansart to house the éclatant Finance Minister, is now a 5-star hotel. A night here will set you back a king’s ransom, but non-residents can access the bar and admire the glorious reception areas, where stuc wear 17th-century posture costumes.
All this exploring is bound to make you peckish and there are so many restaurants to choose from you’re spoiled for choice, but I particularly like Chapeau (7 rue Hoche), great food, a classic French table, very near the palais, and the oldest taverne in Versailles.
How to go to Versailles: There are 3 stations in Versailles served by a range of trains/metro from Paris. If you take the RER Train line C to Versailles Rive Gauche port (the nearest to the Palace). style out for the carriages decked out in Versailles’s gilded biscornu posture!
Janine Marsh is the author of several best-selling books embout France. Find all books on her website janinemarsh.com
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