When the kings and queens of Versailles weren't too busy lolling about in luxury or sleeping with their many lovers, they actually had quite an interest in science.
The chateau was something of a laboratory, a place of discovery, a place where these discoveries were put to practical use.
From Madame de Chateauroux's (who was a mistress of Louis XV) "flying chair", which was actually the first lift; to the grand hydraulic works which irrigated the gardens, lifting water from the Seine by 160m with paddle wheels and pumps to keep the fountains flowing day and night, Versailles was a testing ground for many things.
In 1783 Louis XVI heard about the Montgolfier brothers, who were preparing for the world's first aerostatic flight and he summonsed them to the palace grounds.
They had made a balloon out of cotton glued with paper on both sides, an azure blue featuring the king's monogram – two entwined L's – and various ornamental motifs, all of them gilded. Measuring 18.47m high and 13.28m, it weighed 400kg.
Now, Louis was a little skeptical, unsure whether he should risk a human in the testing, so he gathered a sheep, a duck and a rooster into the wicker basket. The balloon rose, travelled for eight minutes, covering three and a half kilometres. The animals survived - and were later pensioned off to a luxurious life in the palace's menagerie - and the experiment was deemed a success.
Some 234 years later, the National Gallery of Australia has paid homage to this historic event, and wrapped up a neat little promotion for their exhibition Versailles: Treasures from the palace and the Canberra Balloon Spectacular.
Who would have thought Balloon Aloft crew member Brendan Cameron would have made such a regal Louis XVI - but perhaps fitting because Cameron is studying to become a science teacher. Or that Barnaby the lamb, Rocky the rooster and Daisy the duck, animals from Noah's Ark Farm Friends, would be such willing stand-ins, albeit ones with better working conditions as it was deemed not safe to actually send these animals up in the balloon.
"We've got a very creative marketing team at the NGA," said assistant curator Simeron Maxwell, adding that the team is having great fun finding different ways to promote the exhibition which is about more than the gilded objects on display.
"It's a broader exhibition which covers many facets of the life of the three kings," she said.
"Versailles looks at 130 years of life at the palace, different changes in style, appetites, sexual preferences.
"The kings and queens of Versailles were actually very interested in science. They supported any type of what we would today call blue sky science.
"It seems ridiculous that they would put a 400kg balloon, which was made out of paper and silk, up into the air but look where we are today."
The Canberra Balloon Spectacular runs from March 11-19 featuring more than 40 balloons from around the world. Alas, there are none from Versailles.
Versailles: Treasures from the palace runs at the National Gallery of Australia until April 17.