Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [267]
‘The hardest thing at the academy is to go from a course in riding to singing, then kyudo – it requires an enormous amount of concentration, but you quickly adapt,’ Laure says, adding that riders work six days a week, with weekends being devoted to Bartabas’ signature spellbinding spectacles (shows).
Most of the 40 mounts – Pas de Deux, Treize et Trois, Kimono, Nord and Dali to name a few – are of the same chalk-coloured, blue-eyed Lusitanian breed kept by Louis XIV. The stubbier zebra-styled horses who gallop dramatically towards audiences during the morning training sessions to the sound of baroque music are Argentine Criollos – the hardy traditional mount of the South American cowboy and polo player. Champagne is a short stocky Quarter Horse, Edwin a thoroughbred Arab, and the six in the well-bred cavalry named after solar system planets are Sorayas.
‘Horses are selected according to their race, colour and aptitudes: Lusitanians are excellent in dressage, and Criollos, very handy and fast, are used for artistic fencing,’ explains Laure. ‘Certain horses are also selected sur un coup de cœur (on love at first sight),’ she adds. For riders, the academy must be more than just a school or a job: ‘Riders are recruited on equestrian ability, which must be very high, and also for their desire to make the Academy their life’s philosophy.’
Bartabas was first noticed during in his teens in the late 1970s at Avignon’s fringe theatre festival, Off. He went on to form his own equestrian theatre, aptly called Zingaro (‘gitan’ or ‘gypsy’ in Italian), and established the academy at Versailles in 2003 to both safeguard and dispel his art.
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In the same quartier, one of Versailles’ prettiest, is the neoclassical Cathédrale St-Louis ( 01 39 50 40 65; 4 place St-Louis; 8.30am-noon & 2-7.45pm), a harmonious if austere work built between 1743 and 1754, and made a cathedral in 1802. It is known for its 3636-pipe Cliquot organ and is decorated with some interesting paintings and stained-glass panels. To the northeast of the chateau just around the corner from the Versailles–Rive Droite train station, and housed in a lovely 18th-century residence, the Musée Lambinet (Lambinet Museum; 01 39 50 30 32; www.musee-lambinet.fr; 54 blvd de la Reine; adult/child €5.30/2.50, 1st Sun of the month free; 2-6pm Tue, Thu, Sat & Sun, 1-6pm Wed, 2-5pm Fri) displays 18th-century furnishings (ceramics, sculpture, paintings and furniture) and objects connected with the history of Versailles, including the all-important Revolutionary period.
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INFORMATION
Post Office (av de Paris)
Tourist Office ( 01 39 24 88 88; www.versailles-tourisme.com; 2bis av de Paris, Versailles; 9am-7pm Tue-Sun, 10am-6pm Mon Apr-Sep, 9am-6pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun & Mon Oct-Mar) Sells the Passeport to Château de Versailles, a detailed visitor’s guide (€8.50) and also an IGN walking map of the area (€9.50).
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EATING
Rue Satory is lined with restaurants serving cuisine from everywhere, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Tunisian and Japanese included.
Rollifornia ( 01 39 50 67 61; rollifornia@hotmail.fr; 9 rue du Satory; lunch menus €10; lunch & dinner to 10.30pm) The dynamic choice of Versailles’ sometimes stuffy dining scene: this young funky Korean quick-eat joint with designer pea-green and white interior cooks up California rolls stuffed with imaginative combos.
Sisters’ Café ( 01 30 21 21 22; 15 rue des Réservoirs; menus €10-15; lunch & dinner to 11pm Mon-Sat, noon-11pm Sun) Another break with French tradition, this relaxed 1950s-styled space cooks