A HISTORICAL DETOUR


Compiègne Palace
By now I would think that anyone who reads these chapters, knows that I am no historian. Without the past there would be no present and the past in many ways makes us what we are today. Coming from Australia and in a Tasmanian school, local history was important but European took very much second if not third place. It was not easy when I first came to France to understand French history, combine it with English and get my facts right. I still find it very difficult. I have purchased small history books over the years which I read - and then in minutes, I have forgotten what I read. Consequently, visiting historical monuments is not really in my line. Appreciated for their usually overdecorated and gilded furniture, the practical side of me, tends to ask « down to earth » questions, such as « Did they really enjoy living in such pomp? » « Where is the kitchen? » « Why were the beds so high and small? » I could go on. 



Not suprising that we couldn't visit the kitchen

At least there are two free sides to climb in

A bit too formal for me

Marielle has been patient over the years. So, last week we went along to see the Compiegne Palace. First problem for me was the description of  differences between a Palace and a Chateau. The Palace is supposedly larger than a chateau. « Nonsense » I said to myself. The Chateau de Versailles is far larger that this one. I’ll have to go further on that one. This Palace is large and here is a plan. I was perhaps a little more interested in the departmental plan of France in ceramic. There is talk that we are going to redefine France once more……


France as it once was

Plan of the Palace

The day dawned grim, cold and spitting with rain. A great shame as the light in the different salons was not good and the gardens looked quite beautiful. 

For certain I am not going back to the beginning of the history of this  Palace if only to say that the first mention of such was in 561, Clothair l, son of Clovis, King of the Francs, died in his Castle on the 29th of November. 

The years and centuries roll by and we understand that Louis Xlll departs from Compiègne leaving his mother, Mary de Medici under the guard of Maréchal d’Estrées. She apparently escaped - but why was she locked up in the first place? 

Then comes Louis XlV who visits regularly and we shall jump to 1728 when Louis XV, the 18 year old monarch is delighted by Compiègne and it’s forest. I love this. He finds the palace « old-fashioned » and « impractical » and too small to house the entire court. So decides to rebuild it. 

Years roll by again and now we hear that Napoleon l (1769-1821) orders improvement to make it « habitable »!!! - Now I learn that Napolen and Marie-Louis stay in the palace with their son, « The King of Rome, then five months old. I am now totally confused. So we will now jump to Napoleon lll who decides to build a new, larger, better equipped theatre (which we never saw and probably because the interior layer was still incomplete when the Second Empire falls).  He last visited the Palace in October/November 1869 with the Prince Imperial. The Empress was in Egypt for the inauguration of the Suez Canal. My goodness, a woman was given than honor. 
Napleon lll

His wife Eugénie


 
The Imperial prince and his dog - looks very like Tintin to me...

We wandered around. Me taking photos galore and deleting many when I got home. But here are quite few to show your the atmosphere of this «secondary residence » of French Royalty and the. Napoleons


Imagine if you had a brown bear from Siberia as a gift......

Another salon

Game's room

The Family Room in the Emperor's Apartments

The Family Room in the Emperor's Apartments

Game's Room

The Stair Case

Emperers Bed chamber (very single to me)

Empress's bedroom

The tea salon

The tea salon

A ceiling

The Library

The library


My favorite place


The Emperor's bed chamber

An ornate chandelier

Small dining room

The Kiss

The ballroom


Another dining room

Jewelery Case

A child's chair


A scene from the theatre

A Jewelry comode

A Rennaisance soldier



Eugénie's room

A view of the park

Bath taps

The Chapel

The Prince's bed


What I really will remember is that there are 22 working clocks - perhaps not accurately - but wound up once a week. Clocks make a place "lived in" for me. Perhaps not this palace but seeing them lovingly wound up was a nice moment. 


Winding up clocks

A lovely "Grandfather"




 

 
Winding up the clock

There was also an exhibition on Carrier-Belleuse sculptures (photos forbidden). He was Rodin’s « Master » or teacher if you prefer. Apparently one of the best known of his period (1824-1887). Described as « a sculpting machine ». Every day something new came out of his atelier. He embodied the sculpture of the Second Empire and had a great influence on Rodin


A stolen photo of his work
Of course it was a lovely day thanks to Marielle. However, without her I would not have gone alone.

Commentaires

Lo a dit…
One I have never visited but looking at your pictures might be enough :-)
12/6/14 22:14
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