The red marble from Languedoc will finally reach the royal castle in Versailles. There would be nothing surprising in it unless the stone was ordered 343 years ago by the king Louis XIV. Such a long delay is a result of … an oversight. In 1670 king Louis XIV paid in advance for a famous red marble from a well-known quarry in Minervois. The monarch, however, was so busy because of being all the time at war, that he forgot about the transport of luxurious raw material which was supposed to decorate his castle. This fact is proven by a recently found document.  

The media made this public, and the company which currently owns quarries in Minervois decided to take advantage of free advertising and … decided to fulfil the order placed 343 years ago. The president of the company apologized for such a long delay and promised that all the requirements that can be found in the agreement from 17th century will be met. So, the red marble will be transported from Languedoc to Versailles not by trucks but by barges, ships and horse drawn carriages. Those conditions can be found in the agreement concluded centuries ago with the French monarch.

Photo: www.wikipedia.pl