https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETmC3jkDAwY
Fancy.
No. Unseen some things can not be.
Had not considered how similar Louis XIV and Star are.
He enjoyed building on a huge scale. Besides Versailles, his engineer. Vauban, built almost fifty fortifications, and never failed to capture a fortress.
Women of the court vied for his affection, even poisoning rivals.
When asked what the greatest aphrodisiac was, Louis replied, "Change."
Louis was in love with military glory and kept Europe at war for over forty years of his life.
He enjoyed satire and biting wit by supporting Moliere and the Comedie Royal.
He gold plated his furniture and the fixtures of his palace.
He enjoyed dress up, including high heels.
L'estat c'est Star.
Thanks, LB. Derailing a thread on the second comment a Groghead accomplishment.
Vauban is the engineer who designed the classic, modern 'star' fortress isn't he? More irony.
The place is huge. I remember making it to the huge garden in the back and we gave up trying to get right to the end (it's LONG). On the way out I realized they had little golf carts lol.
The Hall of Mirrors was worth it though (historical reasons aside, it was beautiful).
One of the accounts of someone who visited Versailles was a comment that for all its beauty, there was no plumbing. Chamber pots were required.
Yes, Gus, Vauban was probably the greatest military engineer of the gunpowder age. Building those big fortified cities cost a fortune, only France could afford it. Louis needed Vauban to secure his borders, and Vauban repaid him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Le_Prestre_de_Vauban
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1283
Vauban is a grog superstar.