We took a trip out to visit the Palace of Versailles. Admission to the palace was included in our Paris City Passport, but the train ride was not. It was roughly 7 Euro for a round trip ticket. We read that it gets really busy at the palace around 10am when all the tour buses arrive so we planned to arrive just before 9am so that we could get in right away when it opened. Well..... I guess the tour bus schedules have changed a little because when we arrived we could see a bunch of buses parked already and a decent sized line already formed for entry to the palace. Luckily it didn't take too long once the palace opened to get in.
The site of the palace started as a hunting lodge for King Louis XIII and was transformed and expanded by his son the XIV who then moved the court and government to Versailles in 1682. It is now on UNESCO's World Heritage list. The palace is a testament of opulence. The grandeur of the palace is very evident everywhere from the gold plated gates leading into the palace courtyard to the gold plated doors, mural painted ceilings and magnificent collections of artwork throughout. There are what seemed to be an endless number of rooms all serving a different purpose and most had a grand fireplace which would have been used to heat the room. It seemed as though the King and Queen kept separate bedrooms and the King actually had more than one bedroom. On the opposite side of the grounds, is The Grand Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Estate; a place she could go and retreat to away from all the pomp and circumstance at Versailles. It's hard to fathom living in such an environment.
It is said that Versailles is the world's largest royal domain covering 2014 acres. The palace gardens themselves cover about 230 acres. Access to the gardens is a separate cost of 8 Euro. The gardens is a labyrinth of paths leading to numerous mini garden areas each unique in design. The lawns, trees and shrubs are perfectly manicured. Sculptures are found in various area as are many ornately designed fountains. Starting in April the fountains are turned on from 11am to noon and then again from 3:30pm to 5pm and at the main fountain there is music playing. Given the age of the infrastructure, the fountains are too fragile to keep running all the time and probably rather costly to do so. The gardens are more beautiful than I can describe. A beautiful oasis where one can easily get lost in and enjoy every minute of.
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