A Faded Sun

This is one of the rare political cartoons about Louis XIV from 1701. The King is portrayed as old and fragile Apollo while being led by Madame de Maintenon riding a chariot. The etching is made by Romeyn de Hooghe. Also, there is another metaphorical message here: the Sun King's time is coming to an end - that the Sun is finally setting. 

The Dauphin's Bathroom

The Dauphin was one of the many people at Versailles who had a bathroom as a part of his private apartments. Actually, this bathroom is located behind the private apartments of the Dauphin which suggests that the room served a very private purpose - even at Versailles. The floor is tiled with changing white square tiles and black diamond shapes (this type of floor is found at most of the bathrooms). Two small holes in the niche indicates that a bathtub has been installed here earlier. The walls are bare and coloured in a cream and slightly cream-ish beige.

The King's Staircase

The King's Staircase was created in 1754 and in order to make room for it the cabinet des Coquilles was removed completely. It is located in the midst of the King's private apartments which makes it possible that it was for his use only - after all who would dare to use the King's private staircase without permission? Also - quite conveniently - the staircase leads up to the second floor where it opens up into Madame du Barry's apartments. The style looks as if it has been taken straight from the Petit Trianon of Marie Antoinette, so perhaps the Austrian Queen got some inspiration there? The staircase has a view of the Courtyard of the Stags.

Louis XIV's Family

Since certain names has always been popular among royalty and titles are inherited it can get a bit confusing as to who is who. This is the family of Louis XIV - I did the best I could, so bear with me ;) :

                              

Staircase of the Dupes

Marie Antoinette would use this particular staircase to reach her bathroom on the ground floor from her small apartments on the first one. The staircase is made of stone and is still hidden behind the panels. It is one of the many personal staircases that were not to be used by the public and has not been decorated accordingly - this one has bare stone walls and resembles more something from a medieval castle.

Duchesse d'Angoulême's Inner Cabinet

The interior cabinet of the Duchesse d'Angoulême is very small indeed and quite without any particular decoration on the wooden panelling. Instead the walls are kept bare and painted with a white varnish. There is a very small little fireplace - or rather a stove - used to keep the room warm in the winter. The main part of the stove is also painted white and shaped in a basket-pattern white a marble top. Perhaps this room was used for writing letters since Versailles was a place where you could never leave a letter unattended without being sure that it would be read - a small apartment would be perfect for that.

Photo link

December

1.
2.	Philippe, Duc d'Orlèans and Regent for Louis XV dies (1723)
3.
4.
5.
6.	Louise Élisabeth - daughter of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska - dies (1759)
7.	Wedding of the Duc de Bourgogne and Marie-Adélaïde Savoy (1697)
8.	Duchesse de Châteauroux dies (1744) Madame du Barry is executed (1793)
9.	Death of the Duchesse de Polignac (1793)
10.
11.	Louis XVI is put on trial (1792)
12.
13.
14.	Louis XIV orders his silver furniture to be melted down to pay for his wars (1689)
15.
16.
17.	Wedding of Louis Philippe I de Bourbon-Orlèans and Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti (1743)
18.
19.	Marie Antoinette hosts her first ball as Queen (1774) Marie Antoinette gives birth to Marie Thérèse (1778)
20.	Louis, le Grand Dauphin dies (1765)
21.
22.
23.	Louise Marie - daughter of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska - dies (1787)
24.	The Duc de Choiseul is exiled (1770)
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.	Madame de Pompadour is born (1721)
30.	Louis XV moves from Vincennes to Tuileries (1715)
31.

November

1.	Birth of Louis, le Grand Dauphin (1661)
2.	Marie Antoinette is born (1755)
3.
4.	Marie Josepha de Saxe is born (1731)
5.
6.	Comte d’Artois – or Charles X – dies (1836)
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.	Wedding of the Comte d'Artois and Marie Thérèse of Savoy (1773)
17.	Louis Stanislas Xavier – later King of France – is born (1755)
18.	A 6-year old Mozart visits Versailles (1763)
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.	Louis XVI is coronated (1774)
24.
25.
26.
27.	Madame de Maintenon is born (1635) Marie-Louise O’Murphy is married off and leaves court – the design of Madame de Pompadour (1755) Louis XV buys a house in the rue Saint-Médéric which would be his Park-aux-Cerfs (1755)
28.
29.	The Edict of Versailles is signed by Louis XVI granting Protestants the right to live in France without religious persecution (1787)
30.
31.

October

1.
2.	The Duc d’Anjou is nominated as the next King of Spain by Carlos II (1699)
3.
4.	Marie Leszczynska sees Paris for the first time - despite having been in France for three years (1728)
5.	Madame de Montespan is born (1640) Louis XV is crowned (1745) Rioters attack Versailles on the night between the 5 and 6 (1789)
6.
7.
8.
9.	Birth of Comte d’Artois (1757)
10.	Louis XIV supposedly marries Francoise d’Aubigné in secret (1683)
11.
12.	Madame de Pompadour is made a Duchesse - a title she would never actually style herself with (1752)
13.
14.
15.	Louis XIV issues the Edict of Fontainebleau (1685)
16.	Louis XIV revokes the edict of Nantes (1685) Marie Antoinette is executed (1793)
17.
18.
19.	Marie Thérèse – Louis XVI’s daughter – dies (1851)
20.
21.
22.	The edict of Fontainebleau (1685) Louis XV is crowned (1722) Marie Antoinette gives birth to Louis-Joseph-Xavier-Francois (the first Dauphin) (1781)
23.
24.
25.	Queen Marie Thérèse visits Versailles for the first time – it was still a hunting lodge (1660)
26.	Louis XV is crowned (1722)
27.
28.
29.	Ball at Fontainebleau (1763)
30.	Great stag hunt at Fontainebleau (1707)
31.