Versailles Stories - Masters of Time

Series that goes behind the scenes of one of the world's most significant and magnificent tourist sites. Once the seat of absolute power in France, and scene of some of the key moments in European history, in the 21st century the Palace of Versailles has had to adapt to survive in the fast-moving and competitive world of international tourism. It's a challenge the chateau is taking full on with the introduction of innovative events programmes and ingenious fund-raising schemes, and the judicious trial of new technology. As well as evolving to embrace the new, Versailles continues to preserve the old, employing ancient craft techniques and international expertise in an ongoing and never-ending process of restoration and conservation. But in a place with as much history as Versailles change is not always welcome, and relations between the old guard and the modernisers have to be carefully negotiated. The series explores the chateau's many layers of history and its modern evolution through the stories of some of the people who work there today. This episode goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the small army of expert and devoted - if often eccentric - craftsmen who work to restore everything from silk drapes and furniture to paintings and picture frames, and indeed the very stonework of the chateau. Even those parts of the chateau so high or remote that the only beneficiaries are birds are given loving and painstaking attention.