Versailles, construction d'un rêve impossible

Versailles, the visit

January 1999 •French

You will discover the history of the palace as well as the masterpieces it houses. This is the most complete tour imaginable, covering the gardens, the royal apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, the Petit Trianon, the Royal Chapel and the Opera. This private visit will enable you to see the treasures which astound the 10 million people who visit the castle and gardens every year.

Battle at Versailles

May 2016 •English

M2M's first original long-form documentary, Battle at Versailles, follows an event in 1973 at Palace of Versailles where top French designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin faced of against American newcomers Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein and Halston. That pitted France’s best designers against the best America had to offer. It was the first time the fashion world's gaze was fixated on American design.

Panoramic View of Conway on the L. & N.W. Railway

January 1898 •

A hand-colored ride along the Bangor-Conwy-Colwyn Bay railroad filmed from an express train from the London and North Western Railway; Stations, vistas and a tunnel under the Conwy Castle (misspelled in the title) in North Wales.

Balmoral

September 2009 •English

Documentary telling the story of Balmoral, the royal family's most private residence. For over 150 years this Scottish castle has been home to royal traditions of picnics, stag hunting and kilts. From prime ministers to Princess Diana, life at this tartan-bound holiday home has not appealed to everyone. But there is another story of Balmoral, of how the royal family has played a role in shaping modern Scotland and how Scotland has shaped the royal family. Queen Victoria's adoption of Highland symbols, from tartan to bagpipes, helped create a new image for Scotland. Her values, too, helped strengthen the union between Scotland and England. Ever since, Balmoral has been a place that reflects the very essence of the royal family.

Secrets of Highclere Castle

January 2013 •English

Known as the setting of "Downton Abbey," Highclere Castle truly was the home of aristocrats and an army of servants, with a rich past to share.

André Le Nôtre, le jardinier de Louis XIV

December 2014 •French

André Le Notre is certainly the most famous French gardener. He was also a designer, architect, engineer, landscaper and urban planner. He worked for Louis XIV from 1645 to 1700 and designed the gardens of Versailles, Vaux le Vicomte, Chantilly and Fontainebleau, as well as the Tuileries in Paris.

Touring Royal Castles & Stately Homes of England

January 1991 •English

Explore the treasures and histories of eight of England's most splendid homes on your own private tour.

Versailles : Les défis du roi Soleil

September 2019 •French

Conway - River of a Thousand Moods

January 1921 •

Take a scenic trip through 1920s North Wales to the sea.

Chambord: The Castle, the King and the Architect

December 2015 •French

Chambord, the most impressive castle in the Loire Valley, in France, a truly Renaissance treasure, has always been an enigma to generations of historians. Why did King Francis I (1494-1547), who commissioned it, embark on this epic project in the heart of the marshlands in 1519? What significance did he want the castle to have? What role did his friend, Italian genius Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) play? Was he the architect or who was?

The Occult Experience

July 1985 •English

An examination of occultism as practiced in different parts of the world.

Amazing Engineering: Knights Templar Castles

April 2022 •English

Looks at the engineering of the Knights Templar, the religious order that marked the rise of the Middle Ages, and their amazing buildings in the west of Europe.

Dartmouth, River Dart and Dartmoor

January 1910 •

Whistlestop tour of Dartmouth in Devon, taking in the 17th century Butterwalk arcade and medieval castle.

The Queen's Castle

January 2005 •English

Filmed over the course of a year in an "upstairs-downstairs" fashion, this fascinating program provides a behind-the-scenes look at life inside Windsor Castle -- the world's largest inhabited castle -- via unprecedented camera access. Highlights include a visit from French President Jacques Chirac; the Queen's arrival for the Order of the Garter ceremony; and the high-profile celebration of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's nuptials.

A86 : Le Défi d'un tunnel à double étage

June 2023 •French

The Duplex A86 is a 10 kilometer underground highway buried more than 90 meters deep. This concrete tube, measuring the equivalent of more than 30 lying Eiffel towers, is the longest tunnel in France. The result of a succession of technical prowess born from the imagination of visionary engineers, the Duplex A86 allows you to cross all of western Paris in a few minutes.

Louis XVI: The Unknown Versailles

May 2015 •French

Stéphane Bern tells the story of King Louis XVI, deposed by the revolution and guillotined on January 21st, 1793. He was a cultured man, passionate about the technical advances of his time, but powerless against the huge deficit in the country. He actively supported the birth of the USA. Louis XVI was the last king to live in the palace of Versailles, where he organized the first flight of a balloon, launched the legendary expedition of Jean-Francois de La Perouse and offered his wife Marie Antoinette, the beautiful setting of the Petit Trianon, as million visitors around the world continue to admire.

The Real Versailles

May 2016 •English

As BBC Two premieres its lavish new drama set in the sumptuous surroundings of Versailles, Lucy Worsley and Helen Castor tell the real-life stories behind one of the world's grandest buildings. They reveal the colourful world of sex, drama and intrigue that Louis XIV and his courtiers inhabited. Lucy untangles Louis's complex world of court etiquette, fashion and feasting, while Helen delves into the archives and unpicks the Machiavellian world of court politics that Louis created. We meet the people behind the on-screen characters and discover what drove Louis to glorify his reign on a scale unmatched by any previous monarch, examine the tension between Louis and his brother Philippe, a battle hero and overt homosexual, and they meet the coterie of women who competed for Louis's attention. We see that Louis was ruthless in his pursuit of glory and succeeded in defeating his enemies. In his record-breaking 72-year reign, France became renowned for its culture and sophistication.

Versailles Rediscovered: The Sun King's Vanished Palace

March 2019 •French

Based on the latest technological and scientific advances, this documentary explores the palace's architectural past to resurrect Louis XIV's vanished Versailles. Versailles was an ongoing building site at the time of Louis XIV and continued to be transformed by its successive occupants later on. The Versailles we know today only vaguely resembles the Versailles of the Sun King. Most of its original features and apartments no longer exist. Thanks to the digitisation of thousands of plans, a team of scientists takes us back in time to explore this forgotten past in a new way, through a large-scale reconstruction project to bring back the Versailles of Louis XIV as he designed it, according to his requirements and dreams.

Marie-Antoinette, la véritable histoire

December 2006 •French

Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria and a very young girl, marries King Louis-Auguste, Dauphine of France. This historical drama tells the tragic tale of a young woman who, in the beginning started out with task, that ended with great sadness and sorrow.

Versailles' Dirty Secrets

April 2016 •French

The chateau of Versailles is believed to have been a dirty palace: a place where everyone tossed the contents of their chamber pots from the windows above… Yet during the chateau’s construction, Louis XIV had given thought to commodities, and several public latrines were built as well as a very modern water system. So where did this bad reputation come from?