Our Around the World Trip!: Versailles Palace - How grand can it really be...

Paris seemed to have an endless list of sights and must sees but one thing all three of us had heard a lot about and were looking forward to seeing was the Versailles Palace and a 5 hour visit later, we were not disappointed.

Versailles is a suburb 21 km southwest of Paris and is the site of the grandest and most famous chateau in France – The Palace of Versailles. It is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious monuments and most complete achievement of the 17th century French art.

It all began as a rather small hunting lodge of King Louise XIII’s and was then transformed and enlarged by his son Louis XIV who installed his court and government here for more than a century starting from 1682. The palace was later embellished with new apartments in the 18th century during the reigns of Louise XV and Louise XVI. It was in 1789 when the Revolutionary mobs massacred the palace guard and dragged Louise XVI and Marie-Antoinette back to Paris where they eventually had their heads lopped off.

You could pretty much get lost in this 580 meter long structure with its innumerable wings, grand halls and bedchambers. We spent a good 2.5 hours inside the palace gazing at the diversity and intricacy in which each room was built. From the architecture itself to the paintings and sculptures, each room seemed to get yet another “oohhhh” and “ahhhh” from all three of us. Our favorites included the Hall of Mirrors, the Chapelle Royale and the king’s bedchamber.

Now the palace itself was amazing but what makes Versailles Palace so colossal is it’s vast gardens. As I exited the palace and made my way around the corner, all I could see in front of me was a vast network of mazes, greenery, flowerbeds , lakes and many, many beautiful statues and sculptures. The gardens are said to be adorned with more than 400 statues made of marble, bronze or lead with water-playing fountains and beyond these gardens is 90 hectares of Park to get lost in. We walked through a very small portion of the gardens and made our way towards two smaller palaces which are contained within the gardens; the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon. The Petit Trianon is closely linked to the memory of Marie-Antoinette, the only queen to impose her own personal tastes at Versailles, scorning the old court and its traditions. It was here where she found a private haven where she could disregard court etiquette. We wandered through the very small palace and found it much simpler in comparison to the palace - a place to definitely “get away from it all”. The Grand Trianon was a place of relaxation for the king and the royal family and a place to escape from the stiff etiquette of the court of Versailles. As much as we wanted to see this palace, we were unable to do so as we were running late to catch our train back into Paris – maybe next time.

So to sum it all up, is Versailles Palace as grand as they get? From our opinions, the answer would be yes. This is the biggest palace Chris and I have seen thus far on our trip and definitely an eye opener for Natty as well. It’s easy to see how this has attained Unesco World Heritage status – so much history, beauty and splendor in one place. Judge for yourself by checking out the pics below…