The Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is one of the most visited monuments in France . Beginning in 1664, the construction of the chateau lasted virtually until Louis XIV's death in 1715. the Palace of Versailles was never meant to be a home as kings were not homely people. Second only to God and the head of a powerful state, Louis XIV was an institution. His activities were minutely regulated and encased in ceremony, attendance at each ceremony was an honour much sought after by courtiers. Versailles was the headquarters of every arm of the state.

Louis XIV built this chateau to escape the busy life in Paris and to keep the nobility under his control. He set up home here and installed the government. Louis Le Vau was commissioned to renovate and extend an old hunting lodge, Le Notre created the gardens from swamp land, and Mansart masterminded the hydraulic display of the fountains.

The Layout of the Chateau and the gardens :

After the death of Louis XlV, the chateau was abandoned for a few years. Then Louis XV moved in in 1722. It remained the residence of the royal family until the Revolution of 1789, and at this time the furniture was sold and the pictures dispatched to the Louvre. Thereafter it fell into ruin and was nearly demolished by Louis Philippe. And in 1871, during the Paris Commune, it became the seat of the nationalist government, and the French parliament continued to meet in Louis XV's opera building until 1879. The restoration only began between the two world wars.
The many buildings attached to the chateau form a small town. The whole complex is a magnificent monument. The garden facade is 575 meters long with various annexes . The park is several kilometers in both length and breadth. The park shows the skill of Le Notre in making good use of the natural resources on the site.

The Chateau proposes two itineraries either a guided tour or not. Apart from the state apartments of the king and queen and the Galerie des Glaces (the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I), which one can visit on his own, most of the palace can only be viewed in guided groups, and whose times are much more restricted. Long queues are common. Unfortunately, only a small part of the palace can be visited : the State Apartments of the King and Queen, and the Hall of Mirrors.

The worst time to visit the Chateau is on Sunday when the entrance fee is reduced and the queues are equivalently long. A guided tour for an extra twenty-four francs takes you in the King's Private Bedroom, the Royal Opera, and the rooms occupied by Madame du Barry. And, for a little more you can visit the pavilions of the Grand and Petit Trianons. Don't set out to see all the palace in one day - it's not possible. Quite apart from the size, tours of both Mme du Barry's apartments and of the Dauphin and Dauphine's apartments take place at 2 pm. If you just feel like taking a stroll, the park is free (Sunday 20 FF) and the scenery is better the further you go from the palace. There are even informal groups of trees near the lesser outcrops of royal mania : the Italianate Grand Trianon, designed by Hardouin-Mansart in 1687 as a "country retreat" for Louis XIV, and the more modest Greek Petit Trianon, built by Gabriel in the 1760s.More charming and rustic than either of these is Le hameau de Marie-Antoinette, a play-village and farm built in 1783 for Louis XVI's queen to indulge the fashionable Rousseau-inspired fantasy of returning to the natural life.

The park is extremely large which is difficult to manage by foot, a small train shuttles between the terrace in front of the château and the Trianons. More charming and rustic than either of these is Le hameau de Marie-Antoinette, a play-village and farm built in 1783 for Louis XVI's queen to indulge the fashionable Rousseau-inspired fantasy of returning to the natural life. There are also bicycles for rent by the Grand Canal