as if it needs any explanation...but, for those sad souls who've never heard of versailles - here's the much simplified lowdown on louis XVI's phenom château...
the palace was originally built for louis XIV in the mid 1600s, where (after about 10 years of building) he finally kicked back & lived out his royal days until his grandson louis XVI came along and decided that the extensive gardens weren't quite up to scratch, so he commissioned a complete replanting. his wife marie-antoinette, being austrian, decided that the château de versailles was 'too french', so louis built & gave her her own estate nestled out in the palace gardens...but in the long run it would be he who spent most of the time there, to get away from the palace.
they both lived here until the late 18th century, when they were arrested and guillotined for getting in the way of the french carrying out their revolution. fin!
and so we arrived bright & early (or so we thought) at versailles, only to find a ridiculously long line full of super-keen tourists who apparently thought the same as us. lucky susi managed to get in for free thanks to being an eu citizen. for us unlucky people who make up the rest of the world, we had to buy a 25€ ticket to get in - but don't worry, the audio guide was included...
buuut, after complaining for over half an hour in the queue to get in - all was forgiven when we saw the palace. it is incredible. the palace's interior is decadent to the final marble-carved bust, intricately-painted fresco & gold-tassled seat. a funny story we heard via our audio guides was that there is a room in the palace called the "public dining room", where 'citizens' (lords & ladies, dukes & duchesses) could come to the palace and watch the king & queen eat. this was to 'connect on a more intimate level' with 'his people'. oh, louis.
the gardens are so grand - with water fountains every which way you look, sculpted hedges & a vast 2km man-made lake stretching out into the distance.
wow, versailles...c'est tout!
S.
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| happy times lining up |
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| mini marie-antoinette for susi |
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| the 'complimentary' audio guide that came with the 25€ ticket |
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| versailles for dummies? |
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| petit louis xvi |
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| the gardens even have street names. what?? |
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| marie-antionette's estate |
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