Château de Versailles

The palace of Versailles.....A reminder of how powerful how France once was, but also a painful reminder of how quickly power in the hands of the wrong person leads to chaos and revolution. The palace was built by Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King ("Roi-Soleil").  Louis thought that he was on equal par with God himself, so he built his home should reflect that status.  He therefore left the palace in Paris, and set out creating his grand château in the city of Versailles, about 10 miles west of Paris.  Anyone who has ever heard of Versailles knows that the palace is just massive; at one point, 6,000 people were living there. Here is an aerial view of the palace (bear in mind this does not include the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon or Marie Antoinette's Hameau, which are all located on the grounds as well)

You really have to go to Versailles in order to appreciate it's size and magnitude, but I'll do my best with the following pictures. This first picture is of the Royal Chapel.

 Hercules Drawing Room

Checking out the gardens through a window

 About to enter the Hall of Mirrors

 Hall of Mirrors-serious history has been made here, like the end of WWI w/the Treaty of Versailles

Ceiling in the Hall of Mirrors

 Walking through the Hall of Mirrors

 King's public bedroom

Balcony off of bedroom. Louis the XVI & Marie Antoinette stood here as the French people gathered outside in the courtyard

 Queen' public bedroom. The decor in the palace was changed to reflect the current season. And they wonder why the French people revolted.

 Outside about to explore the gardens

 But first we ate our picnic lunch!

Painting of Versailles grounds

Marie Antoinette's Hameau, where she could live like a "peasant"

Except she didn't do any of the work that one would do as a peasant

 She just oversaw all the other people doing the work. 

 We had another picnic for dinner. Best way to eat for a weekend of traveling. 

 The King's public bedroom is just on the other side. Faces the rising sun. 

 We got to go into the Opera House!

The Opera House was made entirely out of wood because the King wanted it built quickly. And wood was the only available material that was readily available in abundance. 

My pictures do not do any justice to the palace, but I hope they have interested you enough to one day go check out the palace for yourself!