Paris is a capital of carousels. There are some 140 carousels in the city today and some of them are more than a century old (like those at the Forum des Halles, Bois de Vincennes and the Square de Batignoles).
The idea of mounting wooden horses on a rotating frame dates to the 17th century.Partly to entertain 15,000 cooped-up nobles when he moved his court from Paris to Versailles, the Sun King had his engineers design the first documented rotating merry-go-round, a four-seater with gilded chairs for ladies and horses or swans for the men.
By the end of the 18th century there were merry-go-rounds in at least three public gardens in the capital; in the wake of the French Revolution, the merry-go-round, like other aristocratic entertainments, was finally becoming accessible to the masses.
The history of carousels can be best seen in the Museum of Fairground Art at the Pavillons de Bercy that houses one of the world's best collections of merry-go-rounds. Visit their website at www.pavillons-de-bercy.com/
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| Carrousel in the Trocadéro Garden |
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