Queen †We Are The Champions
In 1623,[5][6] Louis XIII, King of France, built a hunting lodge on a hill in a favorite hunting ground, 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris,[7] and 16 kilometers (10 mi) from his primary residence, the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[8] The site, near a village named Versailles,[a] was a wooded wetland that Louis XIII's court scorned as being generally unworthy of a king;[12] one of his courtiers, François de Bassompierre, wrote that the lodge "would not inspire vanity in even the simplest gentleman".[6][13] From 1631 to 1634, architect Philibert Le Roy replaced the lodge with a château for Louis XIII,[14][15] who forbade his queen, Anne of Austria, from staying there overnight,[16][17] even when an outbreak of smallpox at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1641 forced Louis XIII to relocate to Versailles with his three-year-old heir, the future Louis XIV.[16][18]
Queen – We Are The Champions
The petit appartement de la reine is a suite of rooms that were reserved for the personal use of the queen. Originally arranged for the use of the Marie-Thérèse, consort of Louis XIV, the rooms were later modified for use by Marie Leszczyńska and finally for Marie-Antoinette. The Queen's apartments and the King's Apartments were laid out on the same design, each suite having seven rooms. Both suites had ceilings painted with scenes from mythology; the King's ceilings featured male figures, the Queen's featured females.
The Hall of Mirrors is a long gallery at the westernmost part of the palace that looks out onto the gardens.[157][158] The hall was built from 1678 to 1681 on the site of a terrace Le Vau built between the king and queen's suites.[69][157] The hall is clad in marble and decorated in a modified version of the Corinthian order, with 578 mirrors facing 17 windows and reflecting the light provided by them. The ceiling fresco, painted by Le Brun over the next four years,[159] embellishes the first 18 years of Louis XIV's reign in 30 scenes,[157] 17 of which are military victories over the Dutch.[160] The fresco depicts Louis XIV himself alongside Classical figures in the scenes celebrating moments in his reign such as the beginning of personal rule in 1661,[161] breaking from earlier frescoes at Versailles that used allegories derived from Classical and mythological scenes.[159][162]
Shortly after becoming King in 1830, Louis Philippe I decided to transform the palace into a museum devoted to "All the Glories of France," with paintings and sculpture depicting famous French victories and heroes. Most of the apartments of the palace were entirely demolished (in the main building, practically all of the apartments were annihilated, with only the apartments of the king and queen remaining almost intact), and turned into a series of several large rooms and galleries: the Coronation Room (whose original volume was left untouched by Louis-Philippe), which displays the celebrated painting of the coronation of Napoleon I by Jacques-Louis David; the Hall of Battles; commemorating French victories with large-scale paintings; and the 1830 room, which celebrated Louis-Philippe's own coming to power in the French Revolution of 1830. Some paintings were brought from the Louvre, including works depicting events in French history by Philippe de Champaigne, Pierre Mignard, Laurent de La Hyre, Charles Le Brun, Adam Frans van der Meulen, Nicolas de Largillière, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Hubert Robert, Thomas Lawrence, Jacques-Louis David, and Antoine-Jean Gros. Others were commissioned especially for the museum by prominent artists of the early 19th century, including Eugène Delacroix, who painted Saint Louis at the French victory over the British in the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242. Other painters featured include Horace Vernet and François Gérard. A monumental painting by Vernet features Louis Philippe himself, with his sons, posing in front of the gates of the palace.[173]
Near the Trianons are the French pavilion, built by Gabriel in 1750 between the two residences, and the Queen's Theater and Queen's Hamlet, built by architect Richard Mique in 1780 and from 1783 to 1785 respectively. These were both built at the behest of Marie Antoinette;[225] the theater, hidden in the gardens, indulged her appreciation of opera and is absolutely original,[210] and the hamlet to extend her gardens with rustic amenities.[225][226][227]The building scheme of the Queen's Hamlet includes a farmhouse (the farm was to produce milk and eggs for the queen), a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn that burned down during the French Revolution, a mill and a tower in the form of a lighthouse.
Last week, Top Gun All Stars teased fans with an announcement on social media that their Senior Medium 5 Lady Jags will be debuting a new look at CHEERSPORT. Needless to say, they did not disappoint as they walked out on to the floor in this fierce, edgy style. All eyes were locked on these cheer queens as they competed in this Swarovski crystal encrusted ensemble that radiated endlessly under the spotlights. Huge congrats to Top Gun Lady Jags who placed third at the CHEERSPORT this past weekend in Atlanta, GA.
On 21st June, the Steam Factory will witness again a tournament between our young local talents in a battle for the finals of the Regional U16 Teams championship, which is also a qualifying event for the National Finals. 041b061a72