A Palace is a word that conjures up images of opulence at its highest peak. Dinner parties that serve the most lavish and exotic cuisines. The high society having everything they could ever desire at their fingertips. Most of the time you only see one from the outside and dream about what it must be like to roam its hallways freely.
Versailles in France takes the word Palace to a whole new level and is a symbol of power and beauty. The size is incredible. Once a small hunting lodge built in 1623/24 by King Louis Xlll with meadows and forests filled with pheasants, boars and stags, the construction of the Palace began in 1631. It was Louis XlV (1638-1715) that transformed it and it became a royal residence from 1682 until 1789.
Now a labyrinth of doorways, stairwells and hallways leading your mind to almost implode with sensory overload. The details in the craftsmanship in each room are impeccable. Every ceiling is exquisitely painted or lavishly carved, and the furnishings are grandiose.
our visit to the Palace of Versailles
We caught the train and walked for ten minutes to the entrance. The doors open at 9 am (the Palace is closed on Mondays) and we got there a little before nine. We had arrived early to beat the crowd, or so we thought! It was just as well we had our Museum Passes. There was an even longer queue to buy tickets.
Fortunately, the line dissipated very quickly, and it wasn’t long before we were at the security getting our bags screened. Once that was done, we made our way out and into the courtyard.
Now I’ve seen Palaces before, but never one on such a large scale. It is immense.
Even though only about a third of the Palace is open to the public, bring your walking shoes. Be prepared to spend several hours strolling around. And that’s just inside the Palace!
slide show
There are over 700 rooms and 67 staircases, more than 2,000 windows and can accommodate up to 20,000 people. The estimated value of the Palace today is $50.7 billion.
slide show
slide show
apartments of the daughter’s
Walking into the Apartments of the Daughters, which is situated on the ground floor, we found it difficult to see and take in everything. I’m finding it challenging to describe the lavishness and opulence of these quarters. I didn’t know where to look first.
Our biggest fascination is when we see doors we aren’t allowed to get close to. What is back there!? We heard there are secret passageways and stairwells the servants would use. How intriguing. I wish there was a tour we could take to see that too!
Louis XV’s daughters’ Apartments are symmetrical with the Dauphin’s and the Dauphine’s apartments. They were also turned into museum rooms by Louis-Philippe and were only recently restored to their original condition as princely apartments. Mesdames of France, as the six daughters of Louis XV were known, lived here from 1752. Only two of them, Adélaïde and Victoire, remained until the Revolution since neither princess married and both lived to old age.
We were herded along before going upstairs to the Hall of Mirrors, the Gallery of Battles and Louis XIV rooms.
hall of mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors (The Galerie des Glaces) is a huge hall, 240 foot long and 34 foot wide lined with 350 mirrors, from floor to ceiling. Once mirrors were as precious as diamonds! This grand room is also where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 at the end of WW1.
The chandeliers, the marble, the gold, the hardwoods the hand-painted ceilings and the reflections in the 350 mirrors make this a very special hall indeed. Can you imagine how long it takes to clean a place like this?
Here’s a short documentary explaining the treaty for those of you who are interested.
gallery of battles
This room is the largest in the Palace, almost 394 foot in length and nearly 43 feet wide. Thirty or so enormous paintings depicting battles of 15 centuries of French military successes hang along the walls. This was very reminiscent of the Louvre and again the details in every aspect of the room were absolutely impeccable.
We could have spent hours wandering around the Palace, and quite frankly, our photos just don’t do it justice. Time was running out, it was lunchtime, and I was desperate to see what the gardens had to offer as I’d heard so much about them.
the gardens of the palace of versailles
What awaits you when you finally make your way outside is one of the most breathtaking gardens I have seen. The scale still causes my brain to stutter when thinking about it, I want to go back and spend even more time to explore every avenue and every statue.
Now the Palace itself is extremely beautiful, the grounds, however, in my opinion, overshadow it. Taking 40 years to complete, Louis XlV cherished them as much as the Palace and you can see why. So much care goes into looking after this land it’s all perfectly manicured and it makes you want to stay.
Those walking shoes I mentioned earlier, will need a break before taking on this great feat. The distances are immense, but worth every single step. With 1,976 acres to explore, it is one of the biggest gardens in the world and truly one of the most awe-inspiring.
You can stroll down and away from the crowds and be completely alone, which is very appealing. Fifty fountains were installed for entertainment, 400 sculptures to view and even today 210,000 flowers and 200,000 trees are planted annually.
slide show of the gardens
The sense of history weighs heavy here, you almost expect a horse-drawn carriage to intersect your course at any given moment. Perhaps many spectres from centuries past still roam these maze-like grounds and with a place as beautiful and mesmerizing as this, who would ever want to leave?
queen’s hamlet
There are numerous other Palace’s on the site, and one of the most picturesque areas is the Queen’s Hamlet.
Marie-Antoinette gave the task of building a complete village to Richard Mique in 1783, which was completed in 1786. The cottages are in no particular style and set on the east side of a large man-made lake arranged in a crescent. You can walk around the outside to view them, but unfortunately, there is no access to the interiors. This area reminded me so much of an English village and is what you would see on the front of a traditional chocolate box.
queen’s hamlet slide show
I wish I could say we visited everything at the Palace of Versailles, but there is so much to see it is overwhelming. It was a challenge to know exactly where to start. So if you are limited on time, just see the items that catch your eye the most, then enjoy the rest of Paris. (Check out their official website before you go).
In a nutshell
- Address: Place d’Armes, 78000 Versailles
- How to get there:
- SNCF trains from Gare Montparnasse arrive at Versailles Chantiers train station, which is 18 minutes on foot to the Palace
- SNCF trains from Gare Saint Lazare arrive at Versailles Rive Droite train station, 17 minutes on foot to the Palace.
- Opening hours: 9 am – 5.30 pm Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays
- Arrive early, and be prepared to stand in a long queue
- Several different ticket costs depending on what areas you’d like to see and how much time you have. If you have a Museum Pass or Paris Pass it’s free admission
- Expect to spend several hours at the Palace, and many more walking the grounds. This is a full day trip not to be rushed.
- Official website: http://en.chateauversailles.fr
palace of versailles – location map
- For more places to see in Paris, click the link below
Remember to purchase your tickets ahead of time
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