The Sun King’s solitude

It is unusually quiet around the biggest attractions in Paris in this COVID-stained year of 2020. Intercontinental tourism has come to an almost complete halt, and the number of travelers from Europe is not worth mentioning, either. The exceptionally brave (or lucky), who still have the opportunity to visit Paris, will be able to discover blockbusters such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, or the Arc de Triomphe in almost complete solitude, where otherwise even careful pre-planning does not always help avoiding the long waiting times.

It is no different at the Palace of Versailles, where only 900,000 visitors were received during the summer months, compared to some 3 million guests registered during the same period last year. This year’s overall drop in attendance of more than 80% is a major concern when it comes to operating and maintaining the Sun King’s luxurious palace and its vast gardens. In addition to the approximately 900 employees working on the estate, the financial existence of many entrepreneurs, artisans, restorers, caterers, and other suppliers is threatened by the drastic decline in ticket sales, which is the palace’s main source of revenue. The situation is so serious that the state has already granted an € 87 million aid to temporarily patch up the castle’s budget, but in the long run, another solution needs to be found. As the operator of the Versailles estate, the Ministry of Culture has begun working on developing alternative utilization options, should mass tourism not return in the short term – or at all.

Although it does not generate direct revenue, the opening of the imposing building of the otherwise inaccessible Small Stables for the public may still be an attractive event drawing in some local interest. The smaller of the Royal Stables, which can be visited until the end of the year for free, houses a splendid collection of more than 60 original statues that once adorned the garden of the palace.