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Imagine the most lavishly decorated house you can. Now triple it, and you will have some idea of what Versailles Palace is like. Famous as the last residence of Marie Antoinette, Versailles Palace is overwhelming in it's oppulence. After only a few rooms, my eyes and mind could take in no more. The over-abundance of paintings, decorative molding, the gilt, the staues...The rooms went on and on. The hall of mirrors was impressive, but Marie Antoinette's room was the most impressive. Every surface was covered, the bed and it's hangings were fantastic, but, of course, its big draw was fact that it was Marie Antoinette's. They had the door that she escaped through the night Versailles was attacked open. In order to truly appreciate the splendor of Versailles, one would probably have to spend a few days, instead of a few hours there. And then after the palace itself came the gardens. Though they must be absolutely marvelous in the summer, they were pretty impressive in the winter, too. Large enough where one could easily get lost, or at least turned around, without a map, the gardens seemed to go on forever. My favorite part was, aside from the Dragon Fountain, the Hamlet. It was at this point that the unreality of the lives of the kings and queens of France, especially that of Marie Antoinette, hit me. The Hamlet is a little fake village set on a lake, complete with what looked like a lighthouse. Anyone who has nothing better to do than to build fake villages has too much time on their hands. It was very beautiful though.

Unable to take anymore in, and with extremely tired feet, I headed back to Paris.

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