What are your bets about? In my family we sometimes bet on who's right regarding the name of an actor, the lyrics of a song or what year something took place. That's not how Marie-Antoinette plays. When she bets with her brother-in-law the Compte d'Artois (Louis XVI's brother), they bet about whether you can build a
château within three months. Turns out you can. Chateau de Bagatelle & its surrounding park was built within 63 days making the Comte the winner of the bet with a little help from 800 workers and at the cost of 3 million lives. Oops, good thing I re-read my sentences. Make that 3 million
livres, not lives.
As you can see on the pictures, Château de Bagatelle is more of a mansion than a castle. The French call it
maison de plaisance, a place where you go on weekends to hunt & party with your friends, but not only. The place was quite famous for its libertinage as well. Bagatelle comes from the Italian word
bagatella meaning "hey, just a little decorative nothing" & above the main entrance you can still read these words: "Parvus sed aptus" small but sufficient.
Constructed in a very simple neoclassical style it is complete with an orangery (where classical concerts are sometimes held during summer), a magnificent rose garden with more than 1200 varieties, a nymph pond, an English-style garden, well pretty much all the basics you need for a little nothing. And why not throw in a few peacocks, swans & parakeets.
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