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Versailles

Posted by (TX) on

To get better informed about my upcoming trip to Paris, I am watching content on Prime and YouTube.

I have just finished watching Season 2 and Season 3 of Versailles, the one that stars George Blagden as King Louie and plays on Prime. Have to go backwards and watch Season 1.

I put off watching it because I thought that it would be boring and it turned out to be so interesting that I binged the episodes. I could not stop watching it.

I was amazed about how much I did not know about Versailles. I knew the name and that it was a magnificent palace. I saw pictures, heard some stories, watched some content but it went in one ear and out the other.

Never really paid a lot of attention until now and that is because of my upcoming trip.

Watching this series was fascinating. I thought that a lot was artistic license until I did additional research.

Among the things that I am talking about are The Poisonings and the priest who conducted Black Masses and the Prisoner in the Iron Mask and The Musketeers just to name.a few.

Had no idea that court life was so naughty as well as vicious.

Thought this was all made up until I did research and found out that it is based on fact. These were real people and these things really did happen..

As I said, I had no idea how little I knew about Versailles.

Next I plan to watch and or rewatch content about The French Revolution. Have already watched new and additional information about Napoleon.

A friend gave me a Frommer's Irreverent guide to Paris.

And I continue to watch youtube videos that focus on the individual arr's.

Posted by
3276 posts

Thank you Elizabeth.

I have gone back to Versailles and am now watching Season 1.

Posted by
9437 posts

A lot of interesting scenery and some history but also a fair amount of nonsense like the man in the iron mask. One interesting tidbit. Monsieur i.e. Louis's very gay younger brother was known as the grandfather of Europe as his descendants rather than Louis's were very prolific and ended up on the thrones of most of the countries of Europe.

Posted by
3276 posts

janettravels44

Thank you for the info. So King Louis XIV younger brother was gay but bi-sexual according to the series.

And according to the research that I did, there was a prisoner who wore an iron mask. And among the theories presented was that the prisoner in the iron mask was the real father of King Louis XIV. Was that false information?

And I have gone back to Season I which I had skipped. In the first or second episode, the Queen gives birth to a child who is dark skinned and possibly the offspring of her African servant. Is there any truth to that?

I am really enjoying it and while I do expect creative license, it is not always easy to tell what is fact and what is fiction and what is fact fictionalized.

Posted by
9437 posts

There was a masked prisoner during this time and no one knows who he was and so fanciful stories grew up to explain it. As with many grand conspiracies the truth is probably more boring than the stories. (but then I believe that Shakespeare is the author of Shakespeares plays and not a committee of educated women not allowed public careers or whatever.

Posted by
3276 posts

janettravels44

I continue my research and while there is some creative license, it appears a lot of the episodes are factual.

I hardly know what to say about Life at Court. It did not sound like a lot of fun. In fact it sounded to be very stressful.

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