The Roi de Soleil à Versaille

On August 2nd, 2013, I visited The Chateau de Versailles. This was where the french royalty used to reside until the French Revolution in 1789. It is a HUGE castle-like building that is now used mostly for touristic purposes. There was only one wing open and the king's daughter's quarters open for us to visit. The wing was one floor including the king's quarter, queen's quarters, Hall of Mirrors and rooms where they hosted guests. Most of the rooms were decorated how they would have been in the 1700s, but some of them were not decorated the same due to how expensive the furniture is. The palace used to be severely decorated in gold on the outside and inside; this was all removed and replaced with replicas before being opened for tourists. 

Beside the main building consisting of the king and queen's quarters and room, there was a an apartment building created for all the king's daughter who did not get married. They are called Mesdames, instead of Madames. The apartments consisted of five rooms: the first room is for "friendly strangers", the second for guests of the princess, the third is the princess's bedroom which is usually where she hosts her closest guests. Then there is the library where almost nobody is allowed, and finally a recreational type of room where one could read, paint, and spend time.The rooms were designed in such a way that, the more rooms you pass through, the more personal you have to be to the king's daughter. I found the arrangement of it quite interesting. 

The gardens of Versaille were what I found most interesting though. Not only were they decorated like an Alice in Wonderland movie, but the whole garden is just huge. Myself and some of the other students tried to cover as much of the garden by foot as we could, but after exploring the inside of Versaille, we were unable to explore all of it. We sat by the largest lake/pool after getting to the far end of the gardens and enjoyed the scenery before returning to our bus. I would not mind having to live here and walk around in this garden everyday. I still cannot believe I am experiencing this in my life. 

The beautiful Chateau de Versailles. The gates used to be golden, but all of it has been removed and replaced.

It is so big! Only one wing was open for the tourists.

The Palace chapel/church. The mural on the ceiling was breathtakingly beautiful. The tourists were not allowed further into the chapel to look down at what would have been the church.

This is one of the hallways in the palace. There were just too many tourists...

This was the first room that we walked into on the second floor of the palace. Most of the rooms were like this: the walls were made of marble and the corners of the rooms were lined with what would have then been gold. 

This was a part of the mural displayed on the ceiling of what was the king's chamber.

The chamber leading to the king's chamber.

This is the king's chamber including his bed. The red and gold combination is so beautiful.

A picture cannot describe how beautiful this chandelier, and many of the other chandeliers were.

Just at the start of the hall of mirrors. Just so beautiful. 

The Hall of Mirrors - there are mirrors lining the left side of the hall, and windows lining the right side of the hall. Many important events took place in this room, including the Treaty of Versailles.

In this age and time, of course we had to take a mirror pic in the Hall of Mirrors.

The hallway in the Palace of Versaille. There is detail in everything in Versailles.

The Battles Gallery. There were about 14 slabs like these listing battles France had fought.

The Battles Gallery was a huge room depicting French battles in individual paintings (as one could deduce from the name).

How can you not be amazed at this structure? All the gold has supposedly been removed, and has been replaced by some material that will most likely not be stolen, haha.

Louis 14th's two daughter, Adelaide and Victoire, were not married and shared an apartment beside the main building. The apartments were really well decorated and faced the gardens.

Where Victoire would host "friendly strangers".

Victoire's large room where she would host friends.

Victoire's bedroom.

I am assuming this is a portrait of Victoire since this is in her drawing room.

Victoire's library, it was more private than the drawing room because it was found closer to the center of the apartment.

Victoire's most private room in the apartment. This would be found in the middle of the apartment building.

Adelaide's bedroom, found next to Victoire's leisure room, closer to the centre of the apartment since it is private.

Adelaide's hosting room, beside her bedroom. I was unable to visit Adelaide's remaining rooms in the apartment due to what was being displayed.

The garden of the Palace of Versaille.

A back view of the building.

I felt like I was in a fairy tale in this garden. I believe this was the side garden.

There were various statues surrounding the immediate pool/pond in front of the palace. I'm not quite sure what they were symbolizing.

In front of the main garden. 

Can you even believe this is real?

The gold tree is a piece of art by Giuseppe Penone.

This is a pond in the far end of the gardens with a statue depicting gods in the center. I was surprised to see fish in the water. I'm still wondering what they eat...

Utterly stunning! I would NOT mind living here at all.