Nymphées #18

For those who know me, it will not be a great surprise if I say I have always been fascinated by the XVIII century. In arts and litterature that century is to me one of the prominent ones. I am collecting books from that period , specially libertine novels which are so exquisitely written. There one can read the most erotic things as allusions and plots are described with such delicate manners..a real art de vivre.
In architecture, I have discovered recently the existence of early XVIII folies called "Nymphées", the place for nymphs, usually some spring or fountain is attached to the monument.

chatou, originally uploaded by zapcomix.

Last week-end I went to see two of these folies which happened to be opened exceptionnally for visits. The first one was in Chatou, it is a huge kind of cave covered by a shell shaped roof and was designed by Soufflot. It uses many stones of different colours to compose a tectonic mosaic. Another characteristics of these nymphées is the use of sea shells of every nature that are incorporated in the walls and are also creating mosaics of shiny and coloured points. It is of course incredible to see.

nymphee, originally uploaded by zapcomix.

The second nymphée, I visited was in Viry Chatillon. There a whole room adjacent to a castle was like the boudoir one used to refresh itself after a warm walk in the parc before entering the manor. This one was really impressive, small shells stuck together on the walls were designed like grapes, the whole place was dedicated to Pan , so wine and love were worshipped there in representations of all sort. I stayed there dreaming of pretty marquises in beautiful dresses covering their milk like complexion from the sun... No noise from the nearby town could be heard, I was like back in the "Grand Siècle".