Monday 24 February 2014

Dans la cour de l'hôtel des menus plaisirs

Father and son are walking towards avenue de Paris in the courtyard of the 'lesser pleasures of the king' building. The lesser pleasures story is quite interesting, should you so want to, read about it here. In a nutshell, in the royal household, it was the department of the Maison du Roi responsible for said lesser pleasures. It was in charge of all the preparations for ceremonies, events and festivities, down to the last detail of design and order and was housed here, on Avenue de Paris, since the reign of Louis XV.
The place is very historic because it is also here that the Estates General took place in 1789, at the very beginning of the French Revolution. If you look at this former VDP post, you can see the doorway from where this photo was taken, right at the end and middle of the first shot! The building now houses the Baroque Music Centre of Versailles.

Ce papa et son fiston se dirigent vers l'avenue de Paris et vont quitter la cour de l'hôtel des menus plaisirs. Les menus plaisirs formaient une branche importante de l’administration de la maison du roi et furent abrités ici au cours du règne de Louis XV. En pratique, elle comprenait la préparation des cérémonies, fêtes, et spectacles de la cour. Pour en savoir plus, c'est par ici que ça se passe. Le lieu est hautement historique puisque c'est également ici que se tinrent les Etats Généraux en 1789. Si vous suivez ce lien vers un billet antérieur de VDP, vous verrez la porte depuis laquelle cette photo a été prise, juste au bout et au milieu sur la première image. L'immeuble abrite aujourd'hui le Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV).

26 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What a great pic!! I want to read more about the 'lesser pleasures of the king' building!! Hope you've had a good weekend, Ciel!

Lowell said...

Ah the history! And you live right in the middle of it! "Lesser pleasures" is an interesting phrase. I thought it might refer to food or hunting or such as opposed to, ah, well, other things.

Fascinating picture...It's like the past is leading the young into the future.

William Kendall said...

Beautiful framing with this shot, Ciel.

Cobblestones... somehow that always draws me right in.

LONDONLULU said...

Fascinating to think such things were 'lesser pleasures' - beautiful capture and extra poignancy from the French Revolution link (nice to see the door in prior post too)!

Bob Crowe said...

Spectacular composition. The near-monochrome brings the eye to that delicious peach and yellow. Love it.

The father's hat makes him look a bit like Batman.

RedPat said...

I love the atmosphere in this shot, Ciel!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Beautifully composed image Ciel and ditto what Bob said about the colours and what Lowell said about the 'purpose',I could add and what William said about the cobblestones but would that be a little OTT :)

Randy said...

That is a nice shot.

Olivier said...

un beau moment familiale, bien vu la photo

Nefertiti said...

tres joli photo j aime bcp !

Gunn said...

I guess there are HISTORY all over here, if the walls and courtyard could just tell us even more....
Nice image. It made me stop.

HaPpY New WeeK !

Anonymous said...

That courtyard has a lot of character, great shot... like the 'Batman' comment too!

Bergson said...

c'est presque un B&W

Tanya Breese said...

oh i really love this!

EG CameraGirl said...

I very much like this photo of father and son.

Lowell said...

Okay, ya got me! I didn't even see the surfboard. Can't imagine they'd be surfing in Cedar Key. Perhaps they are pulled from behind a speedboat.

Thérèse said...

Tres belle composition mais je ne suis pas la premiere a le dire...
Du noir et blanc vers la couleur en passant par la lanterne.
Se donneront-ils la main une fois le porche passe?

Dina said...

I just wish they were holding hands.

Wayne said...

Love the photo, fascinating history. 'Lesser pleasures' sounds like such an awkward phrase.

Halcyon said...

I love this photo! What a sweet scene. Now I'm off to take a look at your link. Lesser pleasures sounds quite interesting...

VP said...

This lovely and inspired photo reminds me of the famous Cat Stevens' song... Oh, he is Yusuf Islam now!

Stuart said...

Well this is no lesser pleasure... it is with great pleasure I view this wonderful shot ! Your composition is perfect ! Bravo !

Karl said...

A pretty scene, very well captured and composed, Ciel !

Anonymous said...

A lovely capture! I love the brick/cobblestone street, too.

~Lindy

Loree said...

That's a lovely shot. I need to read about the King's lesser pleasures. It sounds quite fascinating.

Jack said...

"Lesser pleasures." Some of us would settle for lesser pleasures.

Today's composition is fascinating. It looks like a lamp-shaped enclosure is being lowered to gobble up that little child.