Strangely, just after having read the bio on Louella Parsons, I happened to actually visit Hearst Castle (only about 5000 km from Chateau Peresblancs) where we were subjected to one of the worst tours EVER! (Not to overdramatize). We were bussed up to the summit and literally shuffled around like sheep: one droning tour guide leading us from the front, and another in the rear snapping and barking at us not to step on exterior tiles or touch anything but the handrails. Apparently stepping on tile that is already hundreds of years old and sitting out on the California summer sun is a no-no, and even little children were constantly shouted at! The worst offense, I think (having been to other sites interpreted in a far more intelligent way by the State of California parks system) was the complete lack of balls in the storytelling department and their complete unwillingness to place Hearst in any kind of historical context. Too scared to talk about anything of substance or fact, they asked us instead to admire all the bric-a-brac Hearst gathered up around him (even though we received very little information on the actual objects, their date, their creators); well, how better to appear great than by wallowing in things of a great age from different cultures, their significance be damned. Suddenly, Citizen Kane seemed strikingly bold and relevant!
While the exterior spaces were certainly lovely, the Italianate pool and statues matching the Mediterranean climate, how strangely claustrophobic the interiors of the estate were, stuffed with morbid curios. This completely flies in the face of how I would have imagined 20s film stars whooping it up -- no, they weren't playing out in spacious, beautifully proportioned rooms. The guest quarters were very tight. The ceiling of the dining room pushed down upon the interior, made of chunky wooden religious panels taken from Italy. Dark wooden pews taken from Spain lined the same room - all somber religious iconography. How did these people enjoy their drinks with all the saints frowning down upon them? Every space was dark and tight. There were no long hallways down which guests could escape and play. Hearst also had a habit of collecting small marble Roman period sarcophagi, which were littered throughout the estate. Certainly not cheerful objects. Walking through the "games" room, which was again a patchwork of supposedly ancient and expensive objects but seemed more like a mishmash of periods and styles, the tour guide says, "You can confess now, you came on this tour for decoration tips, didn't you!" *crickets* The bus ride down carried the saddest group of tourists. People who had been bubbling up with Kane trivia on the ride up slumped back into the bus for a long and winding trip back down towards San Simeon.
While the exterior spaces were certainly lovely, the Italianate pool and statues matching the Mediterranean climate, how strangely claustrophobic the interiors of the estate were, stuffed with morbid curios. This completely flies in the face of how I would have imagined 20s film stars whooping it up -- no, they weren't playing out in spacious, beautifully proportioned rooms. The guest quarters were very tight. The ceiling of the dining room pushed down upon the interior, made of chunky wooden religious panels taken from Italy. Dark wooden pews taken from Spain lined the same room - all somber religious iconography. How did these people enjoy their drinks with all the saints frowning down upon them? Every space was dark and tight. There were no long hallways down which guests could escape and play. Hearst also had a habit of collecting small marble Roman period sarcophagi, which were littered throughout the estate. Certainly not cheerful objects. Walking through the "games" room, which was again a patchwork of supposedly ancient and expensive objects but seemed more like a mishmash of periods and styles, the tour guide says, "You can confess now, you came on this tour for decoration tips, didn't you!" *crickets* The bus ride down carried the saddest group of tourists. People who had been bubbling up with Kane trivia on the ride up slumped back into the bus for a long and winding trip back down towards San Simeon.
2 comments:
Oh man, I've been wanting to take that tour for years. I'm sorry to hear it was such a bummer. How interesting about the small rooms. That wasn't what I'd envisioned at all.
Go for it - it's still worth the experience. For me personally, viewing the site like that up front made Hearst & all his excesses real! (Especially since you can see the immense expanse of property that the Hearst corp still owns, surrounding the area given to the State of California). However unless they have another tour guide I would wear an ipod!
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