Find yourself on the stage of the Royal Opera of Versailles or explore the large apartments at night, by the light of the chimney fires ... Despite the confinement due to the coronavirus epidemic, all this is possible in a few clicks. Because, like many other cultural sites during this period when museums and places of culture are closed to the public, the Palace of Versailles opened its galleries, the time of an interactive stroll out of time, called "Versailles VR: the Castle is yours".
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"Enter the intimacy of the Kings of France"
On the official website of the monument, 24 rooms of the Château can be viewed on a virtual visit: all you need is a helmet. Some 132,000 photos were taken to recreate the Château in 3D to perfection. We can thus scrutinize in detail, eight meters high, the ceilings of the Hall of Mirrors painted by Charles Le Brun.
Then, on the left, push a door, pass the golden balustrade and enter the king's room. "You can click on the king's bed and enter the intimacy of the Kings of France by literally going to the king's bed," says Gaëlle Bertho, digital project manager at the Palace of Versailles. "At that time, we realize that the bed is not very small, but huge. What is impressive is to see the drapes as close as possible, which are embroidered with gold thread", she continues.
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With this completely free virtual visit, you can also manipulate the works of art, rotate a sculpture on itself, observe the furniture from all these angles ... Only one thing is missing, which only the actual visit offers : hear the cracking of the parquet floor of the Château de Versailles under his feet.