On Wednesday, we tried our chance again at the Versailles. The RER was about 15-20 minutes delayed but we still got there at a reasonable time. We purchased the guided tour, which was great. The group was small and our guide was very informative.One of my favorite pieces during the tour was this clock which was several hundred years old and still in great working condition. It showed the exact date, month, year and it was designed to show the date accurately until year 9999. That's up to Y10K.
Who can match that ? It takes into account the leap years too. It has a special vibration dampening base to prevent the floor vibrations from reaching its mechanisms. It only needs winding once a month. Appearently there is full-time staff at Versailles whose job is to maintain and wind these clocks, there are quite a few of them, but this one was unique. This clock also was the reference clock for the entire France, kinda like the atomic clock of that age.
This last picture shows me taking a picture of this gorgeous malachite basin. 
No comments:
Post a Comment