"Sir, Marly!" At the court of Versailles, the little sentence was whispered as close as possible to the ear of King Louis XIV, in the hope of a nod and an inscription on the rather restricted list of guests. Because all, marquis, dukes, princes and princesses, dreamed of somewhere else. Only a few kilometers away, in Marly (Yvelines). There, the king had built a palace and a garden reserved for the elite of the elite: "I made Versailles for the court, Marly for my friends ..." confided willingly the monarch who will stay there for the first times in spring 1679.
What was life like in this "country house" where only the most intimate were invited? The Musée du domaine de Marly, which reopens on Saturday after three years of work in a revised version, is working to restore it. Because unfortunately, of the castle itself, only ruins remain: it was destroyed in 1806. The vast park, always very pleasant for a walk, has only kept its plan and some of its many pools , like the drinker.
To cross time, you have to push the doors of the small pavilion, just behind the royal gate. And first look at the huge model in the center of the first room to discover an innovative architecture. Far from that of Versailles, Marly bets on “splitting up”: at the heart, the royal pavilion, bordered on each side by twelve other small pavilions reserved for guests. In the center, immense basins sprinkled with fountains. “It was unique at the time. The spirit of Marly will then be copied in many royal residences in Europe. Comments Géraldine Chopin, scientific manager of the museum.
Another "wonder" was to make Marly an object of fascination across the continent: her machine! To supply the multiple fountains with gushing water, an ingenious system had to be found. The task was entrusted to two Liégeois. They imagine an immense wooden machine, fitted with 14 wheels 12 m in diameter, to pump water from the Seine 2.5 km below and raise it, in several stages, 160 higher. A real scientific performance at the time, which the museum evokes through numerous reproductions but also two interactive models which should make children happy.
Less lavish than Versailles
In this setting which aims to be royal but less sumptuous than Versailles, in this "other palace", life flows to the rhythm of the good pleasure of the king and his handpicked guests, such as the Duke of Burgundy or the Saint couple -Simon. A small circle which could still reach the hundred…
As the paintings and objects in the museum windows recall, one of the favorite occupations remains hunting in the park and the surrounding forest. “But there were many other distractions. In summer, the boat on the lake. Escarpolettes, the swings of the time, were also arranged in the gardens, like scraps, these wooden wagons on board which one descended slopes. In the royal pavilion, there was a concert every evening and very often balls, masked or not, ”explains the museum manager in front of a cutaway model of the interiors of the castle.
Throughout his reign, Louis XIV will continue to enjoy the freedoms offered by "this second home". "It seems that at Versailles he is entirely in business and that in Marly he is entirely his and his pleasure", writes Racine to Boileau in 1687. His successors will find him less charm, even if one has to to Louis XV the famous sculptures of the "Horses of Marly". Put into sequestration during the revolution, the domain will even become a sheet manufacturer ... Today, the renovated museum offers it, with happiness, a new sparkle.
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Museum of the royal domain of Marly (Yvelines). Open Wednesday to Friday (9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.) and weekends (10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Prices: 5 to 7 €. Free park. Information: www.musee-domaine-marly.fr
MEET… Princess Palatine
At the Musée de Marly, his portrait, made around 1700, stands enthroned among those of the locals. No wonder: Elisabeth-Charlotte of Bavaria, known as the Princess Palatine, is the second wife of Philippe d'Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV. As a "sister-in-law", she was practically all of the monarch's stays in his "second home".
And this is a chance! The princess has an easy and inexhaustible pen. Sort of feminine Saint-Simon, more raw, it is even nicknamed the "Ocean of ink" for its correspondence which reaches 60,000 letters! Documents which constitute a very important source in the knowledge of Marly at the time of the Sun King.
She comments in particular on the relaxed label during stays in Marly, where men wear their hats in front of the king and women can walk around in "dressing gowns". "At Marly, the king did not have the slightest ceremony [...] there was no label and everything ran in a jumble," she wrote in 1716 in particular.
More generally, she is known for her kind words, often trivial, against those she hates: she serves as "the old ass" to Madame de Maintenon and believes that Mademoiselle de Blois, her stepdaughter "resembles to an ass like two drops of water ”!
DISCOVER… The 1,715 solar eclipse
The Sun King, as an enlightened monarch, had a taste for eclipses. During his reign (1643-1715), he had the opportunity to observe two. The first in 1699 while the courtyard was at the Château de Fontainebleau. For the second, on May 3, 1715, the king is in Marly and it is from the park that he will observe this extraordinary phenomenon, obscuring the sun almost 90% in France and plunging London into total darkness for long minutes.
The Musée de Marly offers to relive this moment thanks to virtual reality (by reservation). Helmet in front of the eyes, visitors will be able to immerse themselves in a 3D film, also broadcast on screen, which retraces the observation and the previous few days, in particular through the dialogues between the Duke of Orleans, the astronomer Jacques Cassini and the sovereign. The device also allows you to wander around the restored decor of a Pavilion of Marly, the one where enthroned the immense globes of Coronelli (4 m in diameter, 2 t each) now exposed to the François-Mitterrand library.
Sitting near an astronomical telescope and following the eclipse on a tinted window, the Sun King, then aged 72, philosopher: “Even the largest stars can have weaknesses. "He will die 4 months later ...