Champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

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Versailles.

Built by the sun king, Louis the 14th of France, in order to have everyone important under one roof and make him the center of the palace's universe.

Today, though it is a lovely place to visit on a random tuesday, which is what Katherine and I did on our third day in Paris. Taking the metro and an hour long train ride from the city center to Versailles for the day. After studying Versailles and Marie Antoine for several years, I have always dreamed that one day I would actually get to walk the same halls and gardens that the Kings and Queens did a few hundred years ago. Tuesday is probably one of the more popular days to go to this magnificent palace, because most of the major museums are closed on that day. I am no idea why in Europe it is common practice to close during the middle of the week, especially monday and wednesday, but I have seen it in every country I have been to thus far.

Starbucks coffee in hand (which I was so excited to see since I had not had one since Oktoberfest, Caramel Macchiatos never tasted so good) we had our first glimpse of the palace gates. Huge gold colored gates that announced that a King once lived there. The nice part about going during the off season is that there were not too many tourists like ourselves there, mostly school groups, which can be even more annoying but at least I could see over their heads better than the old people who just stand in your way and don't move at all. We purchased the passport tickets which allowed us access to the entire grounds including the Trianon and main Palace. Since we were not going to take a guided tour Katherine and I both got the headsets that came with our ticket price, to help explain what we were looking at. For the most part the audio was interesting but dull and I feel like I didn't always need an explanation about the bed sheets or weird art installations. The only things I was really interested in seeing in the main Palace was the hall of mirrors, the bedchambers, and the paintings. Which we did in fact get to see. I wish that the whole palace was open to the public since I have read so many books about secret passageways and hidden doors but was content with what I saw.

The gardens around Versailles are so extensive that a person could not see the whole grounds in one day. It would take several to really appreciate every aspect and fountain. The central point of the grounds is a huge lake, which when the weather is nice, a person could rent a boat and row around for an hour or two. I wish that it had not been raining when we were visiting because I can imagine how beautiful the trees must look from that vantage point. Getting lost is very easy to do, because everything seems must closer on the map then it actually is. Going from the main Palace to the Trianon is a bit of a hike and if we had more money to spend I probably would have taken the tram. However the walk was peaceful since most of the school groups were only going to the main palace, and Katherine and I were pretty much on our own for the majority of our walk.

After hiking from the palace for about an hour we finally made it to the Grand Trianon, built for the King as his private retreat. It is a beautiful marble creation, using several different colored marbles, one of which was a pinkish tone. It was later used by the different empresses of Napoleon, turning billiard rooms into sitting areas, and changing the decor to suit their individual tastes. The yellow sitting area was a shock to the system, walking into it my eyes were unaccustomed to such bright shades, after the dark wood paneling used in the main palace. The overall feeling inside was much colder than the Petit Trianon, which had a homey look with shabby chic style. Le Petit Trianon was originally built for the mistress to the King, Madame Pompadour. She passed away though before it was finished, but the building plans were finalized by her. When Marie Antoinette was given it, she completely redid the entire area, using her emblem and favorite flower (blue cornflower) as main decorating themes. This was made for relaxation, seriously I could have stayed there and been at home in an instant.

The gardens that M-A created were styled like an English garden. Katherine and I walked along small pathways and admired the greenery, which we don't see in Florence. The miniature village that M-A used, was like Disneyland. Nine houses each with its own purpose, like milking cows or picking flowers. There was even a farm complete with animals, which I had the pull Katherine away from before she started petting the goats. I am all for farm animals, just not touching them, something about the whole smell factor. Dog and cats are fine, so long as they are bathed regularly. We finally got away from the zoo and went exploring the wild gardens, finding the hidden grotto and rock formations on the far side of the Petit Trianon. Some of the rocks that we found even had benches built into them making them that much more enjoyable!

God I love Versailles.

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Photos

Corners
One of the ceilings in the main palace of Versailles. Can you picture this is today's houses.

Photo 2
One of my favorite paintings.

Photo 3
This is actually huge in person. I takes up one whole wall and it didn't fit into my camera very well.

Pink Marble pillars
At the Grand Trianon

Sitting area
One of the rooms inside the Grand Trianon. It was used by several Empresses.

Stairway to Marie
Inside the Petit Trianon, you can just see Marie Antoinette's emblem.