Versailles

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Have $1,600 for a Tree? France Is Calling

Marie Antoinette's private garden is finally being revived

(Newser) - Marie Antoinette's reign ended badly—the queen of France was guillotined for treason in 1793—but her taste in gardening lives on, the New York Times reports. A private garden designed to her liking is being rebuilt at Versailles, and after years of debate, caretakers have decided her taste...

Versailles Is About to Get Its First Hotel

Le Grand Controle will have 14 rooms, indoor swimming pool, and Alain Ducasse eatery

(Newser) - Let them eat cake, or at least order room service. For visitors who don't feel like traipsing back to their accommodations in Paris after visiting the Palace of Versailles, Curbed offers the following news: A luxury hotel is being built on the estate's premises, overlooking the gardens outside...

'Queen's Vagina' Vandalized at Versailles

Artist Anish Kapoor says defacing of metal sculpture due to right-wing intolerance

(Newser) - Vandals have spray-painted a controversial Anish Kapoor sculpture in the garden of the palace of Versailles outside Paris. The 230-foot red metalwork named Dirty Corner—which resembles a gaping cavern and had been dubbed the "Vagina of the Queen" by some French media—was sprayed Wednesday with yellow paint....

Outrage Over Couple's Plans to Build 'Versailles' Near DC

25,424-square-foot mansion not going over well with residents of Great Falls

(Newser) - A man's home is his castle, nowhere more so than in the ritzy Washington, DC, suburb of Great Falls, Va. That's where one couple has elected to build their 25,424-square-foot mansion, dubbed "Le Chateau de Lumiere" and fashioned after the Palace of Versailles. The only thing...

White House, Met Hop Aboard Google Art Project

Online gallery now has works from 151 museums in 40 countries

(Newser) - The White House's art collection, all 139 pieces, is being added to the Google Art Project, as part of a major expansion of Google's online art initiative, reports CBS News . Other collections being added include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London,...

Slumber Like Louis XIV— in a Versailles Hotel Room

Dilapidated mansion to be reborn as 23-room luxury hotel

(Newser) - Wish you could live as grandly as Louis XIV—or at least as grandly as one of his right-hand men? You'll soon be able to. Versailles' Hotel du Grand Controle, built in the 1680s to house the offices and residence of the king's treasurer, will open its doors as a...

Prince Sues Over 'Grotesque' Versailles Art

Takashi Murakami says his works highlight palace's fanciful style

(Newser) - Off with their heads! A descendant of King Louis XIV is suing the managers of Versailles for a "vile" modern art exhibit in the hallowed halls of the famous abode of French royalty. Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon-Parme has taken the action to jettison Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami's cartoon...

News Flash: WWI Ends Sunday
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Oct 2, 2010 11:45 AM CDT

News Flash: WWI Ends Tomorrow

Germany to pay final installment of war reparations

(Newser) - Ninety-two years after the end of combat, World War I comes to an end of sorts tomorrow when Germany pays off the final installment of its war reparations. The payment of about $94 million in interest on foreign bonds will complete Germany's obligations under the Treaty of Versailles, reports Der ...

Paris Wants James Bond to Brawl in Versailles

French dream up grand canal duel, helicopter rescue

(Newser) - A rowing duel in a canal and rooftop escape by helicopter—sounds like James Bond, but does it sound like Louis XIV? A team of French civil servants is pushing to bring Britain's most famous spy to Paris, and have written a storyline that puts .007 inside the Palace of...

Magnifique Golden Gate Back at Versailles

Restoration of 18th century glory

(Newser) - One of France's most popular tourist sites, Paris' Palace of Versailles, has a new golden royal gate—an $8 million replica of a gate demolished during the French Revolution. The 87-yard-long steel gate is decorated with 100,000 gold leaves. It's part of a 17-year-long renovation project, reports AFP.

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