Escape from Paris - Part II

From Giverny we traveled to Versailles, the site of Louis XIV palace and gardens. My impression: Lou was a small minded man who thought if he built grand surroundings, he himself would be grand. He'll, he even called himself the Sun King...as if he would bring light and enlightenment into the world.

In 1661 he took 1000 acres in Versailles that his father and court liked to hunt, and converted the site of a hunting lodge into a grand Palace.  He hired architects, painters, sculptors and other artisans to great a new capitol if France. All of for show (IMO).  He may have thought it splendid, but it reminded me of a 21st century nuevo rich person that instead of building a home with originality and design principles he/she has acquired through the years, copies what he/she has seen elsewhere. Example...there is a statue of Lou that has him dressed as a Roman soldier...as if this were a part of his past.  What at farce...and I'm sure the good people of France new it as a farce.

The tour of the Palace was equally appalling...not because of the Palace organization. No, it was the mass of people.  Look at the picture below with all the people. This was shot into the Hall of Mirrors. The crowd was like a river that flowed through the palace.  People shuffling along, pushing and elbowing for room.  Thanks to our guide, we were able to discover some of the significance of what we were seeing as we shuffled along.

The other picture is out of an open window in the Hall of Mirrors...As far as the eye can see is the Palace grounds.

If old Lou had spent a fraction of what he spent building this palace on building a French society and infrastructure, he would have been considered a great man. Instead, the need to pay for this excess caused his errors...Louis XV and Louis XVI...to raise taxes.  This was one of the reasons for the French Revolution and caused XVI and his wife, Antoinette, to lose their heads.

So Lou escapes Paris and his egocentric spending eventually causes (to a degree) death, chaos and social revolution. Claude Monet escapes from Paris and creates beauty, calm and a peaceful respite...and solidifies the Impressionist art movement.

Who is the greater man?

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