While out walking around the city of Versailles we noticed still another remarkable embellishment in the form of a golden bolt of lightning on this 1790 balcony guardrail at 17 rue de Satory. The inscription "sensere gigantes" is a devise of the Chevau-Légers, or light calvary, and means in French "terrasser les géants," strike down the giants. The motif is just above the entrance of the former caserne.
un garde-corps: a body guard, or as here, a guardrail for balconies or windows; also called un garde-fou, which literally translates as a protection for a madman
la foudre: lightning, a bolt of lightning
©2014 P.B. Lecron
