Alan Riding: Review of Valérie Bajou's "Versailles"

Alan Riding is a former European cultural correspondent for The Times. His most recent book is “And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris.”

The Palace of Versailles served as France’s seat of government for just a century: Louis XIV moved his court there in 1682, there was a short break during Louis XV’s childhood and, in 1789, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were driven out by the swelling revolution. Yet ever since, in its various guises of museum, ceremonial court and tourist attraction, the palace — the French call it a chateau, although it is not a fortified castle — has remained a symbol of French grandeur. Today’s elected governments see no contradiction in spending heavily to conserve this monument to absolute power.

And let’s face it, it is impressive. Even if acres of Baroque decoration are not to the taste of all six million annual visitors, its breathtaking scale is soon achingly felt by anyone on an official tour. This is still more apparent when the palace is viewed from the perspective of magnificent gardens more than twice the size of Central Park. In any event, no one can aspire to see it all. In fact, I’d wager that the Sun King himself could not have found his way around the place. Not that he needed to: people came to him....