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A bit
of historical background. The fountains were restored/reconstructed
through the immense effort of the American Friends of Versailles
which was founded in 1997 by the Americans Catherine and
David Hamilton.
The initial idea was put forth by a Frenchman, Olivier, Count
de Rohan, who one day in the early 1990s was showing David Hamilton,
an enthusiastic gardener, the gardens of the chateau of the Sun King.
When they first saw the site of the fountains which were built by
Le Notre in the early 17th Century, they were entirely
a ruin. They had been neglected to shambles during the reign of Louis
XVI and
Marie-Antoinette out of lack of interest and later
economics. During the early 19th Century there were two separate
efforts to resurrect
them, both of which were abandoned long before completion.
By the time the Hamiltons were shown the site almost two centuries
later, les Trois Fontaines were buried in the rubble, ramble and
overgrowth. Olivier, not so incidentally in this story, represents
the irony of history, for he is also a member of the ancient French
family, a member of which, the Cardinal Rohan, lived during the reign
of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. It was Cardinal Rohan who played
a prominent hand in the scandal of the diamond necklace that arguably
marked the beginning of the terrible end of the reign of the last
queen of France.
The Americans, beginning with John D. Rockefeller Jr. in
the early 1920s, have been the leaders in the restoration of this
great French
cultural monument. When Mr. Rockefeller first visited Versailles,
it had lain, more or less in neglect for about a century, a complete
wreck, both inside and out. The first thing JDR Jr. (or Mr. Junior
as he was known in the family circles) did was to replace the roof
of the chateau which had long before fallen in many places. Although
in the end, Americans have not been the primary donors, they have
always followed Mr. Rockefeller’s initiative, especially under
the curatorship of Gerald van der Kemp and his American wife Florence,
characteristically providing leadership, inspiring many others, especially
the French, to take up the cause.
Today Versailles, which is still in the endless process of restoration,
has greatly returned to its once glorious time as one of the (now
sightseeing) wonders of the Western Civilization. |
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Sharon
Hoge and Libby Masterson
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Henry
Segerstrom and Stanislas de Quercize
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Bunky
Cushing and Elizabeth Segerstrom
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L.
to r.: Barbara Main; Nancy and Steven Crown; Catherine
Hamiltoin and Maria Manetti Farrow.
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James
Fisher, Terry Butler, Mrs. Bartwick, and Nancy and Jeffrey
Marcus
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Barbara
de Portago and Susan Gutfreund
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The
Gutfreund entry foyer, inside and out; Statuary striking a pose for
JH and the Digital. |
Bosquet
des Trois Fontaines; First Night. Late
Thursday afternoon about six-fifteen, we drove from Paris out
to the chateau at Versailles for a concert and black tie
dinner with Barbara de Portago, who is
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. van der Kemp,
and who had grown up in the chateau.
She filled in some details of the place and life there for this curious
one. For example: in the days of the ancien regime, the courtyard
was cobbled with wood rather than stone because the wood absorbed the sounds
of the wheels and the horses’ hooves and made everything quieter
for the Sun King and his courtiers. Another: in those days the fancy lead
decoration of the windows and dormers were gilded so that they shone almost
blindingly on a sunny day reflecting the house of the Sun King.
In good traffic, the chateau at Versailles is about fifteen or twenty minutes
from Paris. In the days of Marie Antoinette who liked to sneak into town
for a little divertissement among the hoi-polloi, or
to publicly attend the opera, the trip from Versailles on the Route de
la Reine took more than an hour. On this warm but beautiful Thursday in
June in the early 21st Century in the late automotive age, with the sky
as bright as mid-afternoon, it took us a good forty-five minutes, including
shortcuts. |
La
garde Republicaine at the
entrance of the foyer of the chateau
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Louis
XIV lived an entirely public existence in these
magnificent surroundings far away from the tumult and the
shouting (at least in his part of the palace – the
whole of which was inhabited by more than 2000 people, including
courtiers, their families and retainers). However, from the
moment le Roi awoke until he finally lay down to
sleep (with notable and obvious exceptions of course), he
was on view to his subjects. Indeed, anyone who was halfway
decent in dress and could afford the price of renting a sword
at the gates, could enter his presence, and if necessary,
make himself known.
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Walking
through the Gallery of Louis-Philippe
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As we arrived
at the black iron gates with its gleaming gilded decorations,
traffic slowed to a stop waiting for the cars ahead to pass.
When the mob arrived at this spot, 215 years ago, coming for
the King and Queen, to take them as prisoner back to Paris, these
gates could not be closed because the hinges had corroded from
lack of use.
Passing through the gates, our cars were driven close to
an entrance near the King’s Chapel where we got out and began our
long but regal walk into the chateau, past the Chapel, up the wide staircases
down long stone and marble corridors lined with marble plaques inscribed
with names, many famous, often distinguished, who donated millions to the
restoration of the chateau over the past century. There we were served
cocktails of pink champagne, water, white wine or freshly squeezed orange
juice. |
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L.
to r.: The north wing of the chateau; One of the
marble plaques inscribed
with those who have donated
millions to the restoration of the chateau over the past
century.
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Barbara
de Portago and Paul de Ganay
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J.
Patrick Coulson and Katie Stapelton
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Mrs.
and Mr. Juan Pablo Molyneux
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L.
to r.: The Balladurs with Guy de Rothschild and
Anne Marie Stehlin (right); The fashion parade.
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Kimberly
and Steven Rockefeller
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Howdy
and Carole Holmes
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Prince
Amyn Aga Khan and Jacqueline, Countess de Ribes
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there we moved up a grand staircase leading to the opera
house that was built for Marie-Antoinette where
the child prodigy Mozart played for her.
The last time the l'Opéra Royal
was used, until this night, was 167 years to the day, at
a performance during the Restoration
for King Louis-Philippe. |
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Walking
up the staircase and through the corridor that leads
to the l'Opéra Royal par Gabriel.
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The place
with a small orchestra seating, a mezzanine and three tiers,
with thick tufted benches covered in a teal blue velvet, is gilded
grand, chandeliered, decorated with murals and equipped with
perfect acoustics. It was also built with a floor that could
be elevated to stage height and turned into a ballroom for the
Queen’s little dances. The program on this night last week
was again, Mozart, Concerto for flute and harp; Quintet for
clarinet and strings.
The
music was perfect, the guests were dressed to match the décor
and there remained throughout the concert an atmosphere of wonder
and mystery, as if perhaps the ghost of Marie-Antoinette might
be with us to see so many Americans, descendants of those American
Revolutionaries for whom she influenced her ministers to fund
in the war for independence from the British king. |
Inside
l'Opéra
Royal par Gabriel
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After
the concert, we moved through more vast corridors, up
grander staircases, through an enfilade of galleries, (les
salles du XVIIeme siecle du Musee) their walls covered
with velvet, and paintings and sculptures of the royal personages
and their god-like mythological characters, all overlooking
the gardens of the northern parterre and wing of the chateau.
It doesn’t begin to get dark in France at this time
of year until almost ten o’clock, and so the rooms
were still brightly lit from the tall and wide terrace windows.
All of this led us to la vestibule haut de la Chapelle
Royale (opening shot on the Diary) for more champagne
and conversation and look-see before dinner.
There were more than 400 Americans who had come across the Atlantic for
the evening, people from all over the United States, from New York, Chicago,
Houston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco. They attended with
many French including names prominent to Americans such as Baron
Guy de Rothschild, the legendary fashion empress, Jacqueline,
Countess de Ribes, Anne-Marie and Edouard de Ganay, Doda Voridas, Amyn
Aga Khan.
As someone pointed out to me, this was a natural fashion parade where women
felt compelled to change costume, almost in the royal fashion, for each
event; and where the events called for a variety of dress from the grandest
to the chic to the relaxed. This evening was of those “grandest.” |
L.
to r.: In
les
salles du XVIIème siècle du Musée; View from the
terrace of les salles. |
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Left
and right: Dinner guests moving through the enfilade
of les salles du XVIIème siècle
du Musée towards the vestibule haut de la Chapelle
Royale.
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cocktails, we moved into the adjoining Salon d’Hercule, an
even grander “drawing room” which was conceived
during the reign of Louis XIV to house Veronese’s painting “The
Meal in the House of Simon the Pharisee” which was
a gift to the king from the Republic of Venice in 1664. The
painting of course inspired the colors of the marble that
adorns the walls and the painting on the ceiling. |
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Dinner
in the Salon d’Hercule, which was conceived during
the reign of Louis XIV to house Veronese’s painting The
Meal in the House of Simon the Pharisee
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The
Salon is considered one of the most beautiful rooms in the chateau.
At least the Sun King's grandson Louis XV thought
so and so he used it for his most brilliant and celebrated receptions.
The ceiling, which is one of the world’s largest decorative
paintings, was commissioned by Louis XV and painted between 1733
and 1736 by Francois Le Moyne, representing “The
Apotheosis of Hercules” where Hercules vanquishes both
vices and monsters and ascends to Mount Olympus on a chariot.
So you can see why the idea appealed to Louis XV. He liked it
so much he made Le Moyne Head Painter to the King. Talent triumphs;
good job M. Le Moyne!
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menu: Veloute glace Argenteuil, Noisette
d’agneau roti a la bargoule, and dessert Ananas
royal Coulis de framboise – all washed down
with Champagne Besserat de Bellefon (gift
of M. et Mme. Francois-Xavier Mora), Cuvee
des Moines, Haut de Smith Haut Lafitte 2000 (gift
of M. et Mme. Cathiard; Chateau
Duhart-Millon 1990 en magnum (gift of Baron
Eric de Rothschild and Domaines Barons de Rothschild),
and Sauternes chateau Suduiraut 1996 (gift
of Mr. Christian Seely and la societe
AXA Millesimes). |
During the
dinner, there were a few words from Mme. Christine Albanel,
Presidente de l’Etablissement Public de Versailles, M.
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, Ministre de la Culture et
de la Communication and Catharine Hamilton, Presidente des American
Friends of Versailles.
Apres diner, the glittering crowd moved back through
the glorious rooms of the chateau, down to the passageway
out to the marble court, through the entrance of the original
chateau first constructed by Louis XIII, father of Louis
XIV in the 15th Century and out onto the first parterre.
Once all assembled, with the floodlights lighting the façade
of the chateau and the fountains, we were joined by the marching
band of la Garde Republicaine on the Grand Terrace which
played a program of marches and anthems – the Star
Spangled Banner, La Marseilles, the Stars and Stripes Forever,
etc. |
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The
Marble Court
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Mrs.
Bernard Notari
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Michele
Fieschi-Fouan and friend
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Barbara
de Portago, Florence van der Kemp, Audrey Gruss, and
Susan Gutfreund
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Catharine Hamilton and Olivier,
Count de Rohan applaud la
Garde Republicaine
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Four
centuries later, the presence of Louis XIV remains
intact in our consciousness. This was France, this was the
United States, together, partners in culture, as it was intended
by our hosts, and brilliantly and movingly carried out. On
completion of our concert, about one-thirty in the morning,
still jet-lagged from our arrival eighteen hours before,
we departed the chateau of the Sun King and drove back to
Paris for a good night’s sleep. |
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