I miss Paris so much! it’s been 18 months since my last visit…Yes the COVID.
It was a twice a year trip this last decade since moving to the south of France.
From home (Ariège) it’s a 4 hour high speed comfort plus train ride to the centre of my favourite city for walking, exploring, eating, lazying..and just being Parisian.
Quirky Paris Series will begin with the last neighbourhood of the snail shaped centre of the city, the 20th Arrondissement, home of the Pere Lachaise Cemetary, one of the quirkiest sites in the world and “the Campagne à Paris” a quirky country village.
Pére Lachaise Cimetiére
Tomb of Oscar Wilde full of kissesA crooked chairCross-treeObelisquePyramidMacabre on another levelHomage to Auschwitz
Sunrise on Alexander III BridgeEiffel Tower at SunriseOpera GarnierOpera GarnierChristmas tree Galleries LafayetteSunset on the SeineGold clockGold CopolaGold Clock Musée d’OrsayGold Mercedez at sunrise Place de ConcordeSunrise Rue de RivoliSunrise on the SeineGold Willow on Ile Saint Louis
A “Trinket” and a folly to prove Marie-Antoinette wrong
Bagatelle means Trinket in French and that’s how some of the king’s court viewed castles in pre-revolution days.
Tucked beautifully within the gigantic Bois de Boulogne in Paris, this enchanting park comprised of a world reknown rose garden, a castle, an orangerie, grottos, waterfalls and pagodas, to name a few of its treasures, also has an amusing and very french history.
Antique park planToday park plan
The Chateau Then and Now
The Chateau’s fame originated in 1775 with a bet between the then Queen of France Marie-Antoinette, notorious for her “let them eat cake” joke during the Revolution and her brother-in-law the Count of Artois, only 20 years old at the time (He was to become the future king Charles X). The king’s brother had purchased the domain on a coup de coeur from Marshal d’Estrees, Louis Charles Cesar Le Tellier.
The domaine which consisted of a small pavillion built in 1720 for entertainment purposes for the high aristocracy, including The Regent and Louis XV, who hunted in the area. The domain was named Bagatelle by the Marquise de Monconseil a friend of the Marshal’s wife who was given full guardianship and who hosted lavish festivities for the nobility.
By 1775 the domain was in a delapidated state and knowing this fact, the famously witty Queen-Marie Antoinette teased her kin the Count of Artois that she wished to be received at Bagatelle only two months later upon her return from a trip.
Stung by the mockery the young Count took up the challenge claiming he could build a castle, a mere Trinket, in time for her visit and even wagered a 100 000 pounds to prove his determination.
No expense was spared on the completion of his extravagant project henceforth nicknamed “Artois’ Folly”.
The project was entrusted to the architect François-Alexandre Bélanger who drew the plans in record time (two days!).
A staggering team of 900 workers worked night and day to achieve this feat in just 64 days raking up a total sum of more than a million pounds -some Trinket!
No price too small for a show-down with her majesty the Queen!
The Young Count of ArtoisSister in Law and Queen Marie AntoinetteThe Count of Artois leaning on the chair behind the king and Marie Antoinette holding the dauphinMarshal D”Estrees the first ownerMarquise de Monconseil named the estate BagatellePlan by BelangerPlan by Belanger
A Revolution Survivor
The Chateau “Trinket” was miraculously spared from the rampant destruction of monuments and other art masterpieces during the revolution of 1789. The Count of Artois fled the country and the Domaine was confiscated and suffered from abandonment.
For the following decade (1795-1804) during the Directoire and the subsequent Consulat gouvernments, the Park was rented out for festivals and parties especially popular with the ” Merveilleuses and Incroyables“, a fashionable aristocratic sub-culture of Paris. Most were the adult children of the decapitated nobility during the reign of terror.
Incroyables et Merveilleuses
Napoleon’s hunting grounds
In 1806, on Napoleon‘s orders, Bagatelle was bought by Duroc, grand marshal of the palace, and entered the civil list under the name of Pavillon de Hollande, the emperor wishing to make it a hunting rendezvous. The house was the subject of a long, comprehensive campaign to restore the gardens and the interior. It was not until July 1811 that the new Holland Pavilion was inaugurated, just three years before the fall of the Empire.
The Count, sorry, the King is Back!
At the fall of Napoleon’s empire during the restoration period when the Bourbon royal Family was reinstored, a much older Count of Artois became King Charles X and He recovered his “Trinket”.
King Charles X
As early as 1814, King Charles X donated the estate to his youngest son, the Duke of Berry, who, like his father, often came to stay there after his hunting trips in the surrounding forests.
Duc du Berry
When the Duke du Berry died in 1820, the estate passed to his son, Henri-Dieudonné, Duke of Bordeaux and Count of Chambord, who often went there to relax with his sister, Louise-Marie d’Artois, accompanied by their housekeeper, the Duchess de Gontaut, after their studies at the Tuileries. (below is a framed print from a painting by Ricois in the collections of the Duchess of Berry)
Duke of Bordeaux, Count of Chambordfrom this website
The English LandLords
The next important chapter of Bagatelle was the takeover in 1835 by Lord Seymour, Marquis of Hertford, to make it his Parisian residence. Wanting to have a dwelling larger than a “Trinket”, he added a floor, which profoundly transformed the Chateau’s proportions. The Pages pavilion was knocked down to clear the view and a new pavilion known as the Trianon was built for his illegitimate son, heir and future estate owner, Richard Wallace, first Baronet.
An Intimate friend of Napoleon III (the emperor was an anglophile and had taken refuge in England during his exile), Lord Seymour received at Bagatelle the Empress Eugènie, who watched the riding lessons of her son the young imperial prince, Louis Napoleon, from the “Kiosk de l’imperatrice” (The Empress Kiosk and Imperial Prince below)
On Hertford’s death, Sir Richard Wallace remained at Bagatelle, where he lived until his death in 1890. The Chateau became one of the repositories for his extensive art collection, which also filled an appartment in Paris and his London Residence, Hertford House, now a museum and home of the Wallace Collection.
The English period of Bagatelle lasted 70 years and had an everlasting impact on the design and appearance of the estate.
Lord SeymourRichard WallaceLord Seymour and his son Richard Wallace at BagatelleLady WallaceJohn Murray ScottHertford House Wallace Collection LondonThe Empress Kiosk named after Imperatrice EugenieImperial Prince Louis Napoleon riding his poney “Bouton d’or (golden bud)
A Trinket for Paris
Sir John Murray Scott upon inheriting Bagatelle made plans to divide the estate into an urban residential development. To avoid dismemberment, the mairie of Paris blocked the operation and acquired the domain in 1905.
The Park design
Bélanger, Artois’ architect, was also a garden designer: he drew up plans for an Anglo-Chinese garden for the estate, which was very fashionable at the time.
The realization of the garden was entrusted to Thomas Blaikie, a renowned landscaper, who did not find all of Bélanger’s ideas to his liking and changed his plans a little (he notably removed certain watercourses).
The garden was adorned with “fabriques” (small fancy decorative garden constructions, specifically in the English style), many of which have disappeared today.
The result, a skillful blend of two very different conceptions of garden design, is pure wonder. However, the landscape that one can admire today is not quite the one which awed Marie-Antoinette.
Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, in 1905, was responsible for the gardens of the city of Paris and the instigator of the takeover of Bagatelle. He created the rose garden and initiated an international competition for a variety of roses, which are today the stars of the estate. He also updated the landscape for the rest of the park. We owe him the water lily pond, which he designed out of admiration for Monet.
As you stroll through the park you will discover the replica of an 1867 Universal Exposition pagoda with an interesting history which was commissioned and placed in the gardens in the 1990’s.
Today the original pagoda is located in the Cliveden Garden in England
The original pagoda was part of the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1867: it is even said that its construction was inspired by a small pavilion which adorned the gardens of the Château de Romainville at the end of the 18th century (photo below).
Then, like many other World Expo pavilions, it was sold after the event ended. Lord Seymour, Marquis of Hertford, owner of Bagatelle at the time, installed the Chinese pagoda in his park. However the story does not end here.
When the park was bought by the City of Paris, the pagoda was sold, and in 1906 went off to bring an oriental touch to Lord Astor’s brand new Water Garden, in his estate in Cliveden, Buckinghamshire, England.
Illustration from William Chambers “Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines and Utensils” (London 1757) from the Springhill Library collections, Co. Londonderry.
Asian Pavilions at the Paris Expos
Here are some illustrations and a 3D montage of some of the Asian Pavilions at the Paris Expos at the turn of the 20 th century which captured the curiosity of the Europeans. The “Orientalism movement” which was loving all things from the the close and the far east was in vogue at the time.
Many of the façades and pavilions were sold to eccentric decorators, garden designers, artists and other wealthy nobles such as Leopold II of Belgium who purchased the Japanese and Chinese Pavilions from the 1900 exposition and transferred them to Brussels, where they can be seen today.
Don’t you love playing with windows and puddles with your camera?
Rather than shooting the typical travel photography snapshots I adore finding different angles, frames and reflections when visiting certain sites.
The Chateau de Vincennes in the outskirts of Paris does not disappoint in delivering a variety of stunning viewpoints if you wish to have fun with architecture photography.
The Chateau and its Parc the Bois de Vincennes are easily accessed from the centre of Paris by the Metro Line 1 in about 20 minutes from Saint Germain des Prés.
Donjon Windows
When the light is right along the passages, each window has a gorgeous view
Chapelle Stained Glass Windows
Try different angles and aperture settings to capture the light in this awesome Chapel. The Crown of Thorns of Jesus, no less, was housed here for while, now permanently housed at Notre Dame de Paris.
Go early for morning light through the stained glass and #notourists.
I despise selfies but do recommend taking some great holiday souvenir shots with this beautiful setting as a backdrop. Place and frame yourself or your person in front for a classy travel portrait.
Travel Portrait
Now Puddles…
Puddles bring out the kid in us! Were you one of those puddle splashers as a child?! still today I can’t help myself from splashing my boots in puddles. Best part of puddles? Reflections of course! so fun!
Puddle Reflections are all about capturing the light at the right angle and whether to keep the subject in the background or not. Go long, go close and play with aperture settings too.
Puddle reflections also look great in monochrome and can get printed for fun quirky poster photos for a wall.
Great for travel souvenir art.
Instagram has #puddle photography hashtags where you can post your shots and also see what other photographers are posting.
Have fun puddling after the next rainfall!
Vincennes Puddles
Angles of Vincennes
Finally the Chateau de Vincennes offers such delights for Architecture Photography with its divine angles.
Again you can go monochrome on the camera setting or photoshop later.
Include shadows and light reflects in your architecture shots for maximal effect
Thanks for reading and keep enjoying Photography and Travel…
V.O. Photo and Travel Blog 