As much as it is incredible that this low-relief survived the revolution (because almost all Royal public statues were destroyed by angry mobs), it was already unusual in his days to see Louis XIV inside the city because… he disliked it!

I am not giving you the whole story (but you know how to get it). Let’s just say for now that, in 1648, Louis was 10. He had been king for 5 years already. The country was run by his Prime Minister, Cardinal Mazarin, chosen by his predecessor, Cardinal Richelieu, approved by Louis’ mother, Anna of Austria (who was Spanish as her name doesn’t indicate… You know, the Habsbourgs). Anyway, Louis had to wait for his majority so that he could personally confirm the choice of Mazarin as the Prime Minister, and the nobility wanted to take advantage of the king’s prime youth so that they could try to at last put one of them in charge of the country for a change (and not another foreigner as Mazarin and Richelieu were Italians). This rebellion of the nobility not only led them to foolishly encourage the common people to rebel, but they also fought the king’s armies (which were led by Mazarin) because the nobles « officially » wanted to free the king from the Cardinal’s supposed evil influence. This rebellion lasted for 5 years and is known in France as « La Fronde ». The Fronde lost its strength in 1651 because the king confirmed the choice of Mazarin when he reached his majority and it would have been sacrilegious for them to continue to fight against the king himself. It officially all ended in 1653.

Where am I getting at? Well, on the night of the 5th of January 1649, because it wasn’t safe for the Royal family to stay in Paris, they fled for the Palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (12 miles outside Paris) at 3 o’clock in the morning. Now, until Versailles, the king had no permanent address: he led a nomadic life spending one month here, another month there (depending on the hunting season) and, each time, he sent his furniture, tapestries, staff ahead of him so that everything would be ready when he arrived. So, on that night, when they arrived, in the very early morning, Mazarin had only been able to arrange four small beds (for the king, his mother, his brother and for him), the rest of the court slept on the floor, with just a little bit of straw that they bought at high cost. Then they all had to wait several days before their clothes and personal belongings followed… You have to understand that this was a very unpleasant experience for a young boy with a strong ego! Of those troubled times, he kept a lot of rancour against the nobility (he had them licking his boots a few years later, and for the rest of his life) and against the Parisians. Even though Louis knew that Paris had to be embellished in order to glorify his name (and he therefore gave the city beautiful buildings: Invalides, Place Vendôme, part of the Louvre…), he later made Versailles the seat of his court and government and, even though the year he officially settled in Versailles was 1682, starting 1661, during the last 54 years of his life, so Professor Orest Ranum (from Johns-Hopkins University of Baltimore) informs us, Louis came only 24 times to Paris, not even twice a year…