When I was in my second year of high school, my family moved to a village called Versailles. It boasted only a Congregational church, a combination post office-market, and a few hundred souls. Dominated by an empty paper mill and its accompanying multiple-family housing units, my curiosity remained on who had the temerity to give this place such an audacious name.
Surrounding towns reflected its Native American past and bore names like Mohegan, Uncasville, Occum, and Moosup and a river named Quinnebaug divided the village. The town's name, Versailles, stuck out like a sore thumb.
Fast forward thirty-two years. My family, including husband, two sons and eighty-year-old father, were on a touring trip of Europe. We'd spent the day in Paris, specifically at the Eiffel Tower, and were driving back to our auberge in Bordeaux near the coast of France. As we sped the highway, I sighted a marker indicating nearby Versailles--the original Versailles--and insisted on a side trip.
Short on time, we couldn't tour the grounds but we did take time to stop beside the large entrance sign long enough to photograph my father beside it--a high-light of his trip.
Wikipedia doesn't have much on Versailles itself, but it does have a page of info on Sprague, which is comprised of Baltic, Hanover and Versailles.
ReplyDeleteIt's named after William Sprague, but there's not much more beyond that. If you dig up more, I'd be curious to hear it. :-)
Nice memories of our hometown. There are sister cities all over New England based on both England and France. Lisbon, Ct/Lisbon, England. Sprague, CT/Sprague, England. Versailles, Ct/ Versailles, France.
DeleteJust one detail did give me notice...Dad's age??
Sorry - I didn't notice I'd dropped the 'Y'
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