Versailles in private

Nicolas B. Jacquet
avec les éditions Parigramme, 2015
14,2 x 21 cm, 224 p., 19,90 € TTC
ISBN 978-2-84096-944-0

document bilingual french-english

Hidden doors, secret passages, private studies, libraries and apartments… the palace holds concealed quarters in which French kings and queens once sought refuge, far from court stuffiness. This intimate Versailles stands alongside the official Versailles: the ten meter-high ceilings of the Hall of Mirrors hide up to three entresol levels, stacked up in a way that defies imagination. Shutting away the traces of regal memories, these doors now open specially for us.

Contents :

Plans

Time at a standstill
Profession, courtier
Official housing

The Queen’s Household
Access to the queen
The chamber’s rear rooms
The ground-floor apartments
The queen’s upstairs inner rooms
Private summer gatherings at the Petit Trianon

The king’s domain
The hôtel particulier at the Courtyard of the Stags
A guest of the king
The sovereign’s workspace
The annexes of the king’s chamber
The scientific rooms over the Courtyard of the Stags
The upstairs apartment
The King’s Small Apartment