One of the great highlights of our Paris trip for me did not involve a famous site, as great as those sites were. A personal highlight was visiting one of the most important historical sites in France, a place overlooked by the tourist machine.
I teach AP European History and we spend quality time each year studying the French Revolution. In the summer of 1789 the three estates (social classes) were meeting at Versailles to discuss the crown's financial crisis.
One day, when representatives of the Third Estate (the lower class) came to the gates of the Palace of Versailles they found themselves locked out. Literally. The gates were chained shut. They were being purposely excluded from all future discussions.
So the angry crowd of representatives gathered at the King's Indoor Tennis Court. There, they took an oath which became known as The Tennis Court Oath. They agreed not to disband until a new constitution had been written with greater freedoms for the lower classes. This revolutionary act took place almost a month before the Fall of the Bastille. Many historians consider The Tennis Court Oath as the beginning of the French Revolution.
As a history teacher I wanted to see this place, if it still stood. I was surprised to find that the King's Tennis Court (
Jeu de Paume) was not actually on the palace grounds, which makes sense if they were locked out. It was and is actually a little less than a mile away from the gates. Using Google Maps we saw that it's located about halfway between the Palace and the Train Station.
So after our day at Versailles, we took the short detour into the neighborhood next to the promenade that leads to the station. We turned a corner and there it was. It had a big banner on the outside proclaiming it as the Jeu de Paume, the one we were looking for.
At the door there was only one employee. And we were surprised to discover that admittance is free. We were even more surprised to find no one else there. We signed the visitor's book and saw that the place does not receive that many visitors. That did surprise me. I understand how the place might not be of great interest to your average tourist. But I assumed that the scene of one of the most pivotal moments in French history would receive more attention.
The place had been restored and reclaimed by the French government in the late 19th century. Today the Palace of Versailles actually operates the place. It was exactly how I would have imagined it. On one wall was a massive mural sized reproduction of David's famous painting of the Tennis Court Oath. There were statues of many of those involved with the proceedings of that day. I took a photo next to Dr. Guillotin (yes, the guillotine guy).
It was surreal to walk in the same space where so much changed and that I teach about each year. It was even more surreal that we were the only ones there. It was almost as if we had discovered something just for ourselves. It was a wonderful moment. Well, a wonderful moment for an enthusiast of history.
