I can understand why Louis XIV decided to move out of the city to this extravagant palace, complete with gardens, lakes, stables, and guest houses. This is where Louis XIV, XV, and XVI lived before the revolution. From the crystal and hand-painted details to the gardens and fountains, it was surely a sight to see - and actually my favorite place around Paris.
The Palace of Versailles and its gardens form one of the most famous world heritage monuments. The old brick and stone chateau of Louis XIII was transformed and greatly enlarged by his son Louis XIV who installed the Court and Government here. The town was built around the Palace and includes churches, town houses, old squares, etc.
Prior to the French Revolution, the Chateau de Versailles estate covered 30 square miles - which is the present area of the city of Paris!! It was surrounded by a wall of 27 miles. Today, it represents just 3 square miles.
Because if it's huge size, there was so much to see. We spent an entire day here, and were still rushed to see everything. We took a little train around the complex to see the different buildings, because walking by foot would have taken too long.
The main gate.
Part of the front of the Chateau,
Back of the Chateau.
Gardens and The Grand Canal. The gardens cover an area of 57 acres with a perimeter of 3.5 miles. The construction lasted 11 years! I read that under Louis XIV reign, the Grand Canal was used as a miniature sea - with 9 ships, a vessel with 32 canons, and gondolas.
The Hall of Mirrors. This room is filled with gorgeous crystal chandeliers and numerous antique mirrors. The paintings on the ceiling illustrate events in the life of Louis XIV, from the time he began to reign in 1661, until the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. The King would pass through the Hall of Mirrors every day on his way to the Chapel. It was also the passageway between the King's and Queen's apartments. The room was used for large receptions and royal weddings. It overlooks the gardens. So it's really the perfect room: beautiful and elegant inside, topped with a spectacular view of the estate.
The Queen's Apartment. It consists of four rooms, and is where the queen lived out her public life. The queen also had private rooms overlooking the courtyards, which allowed her more privacy.
The King's Apartment was just as impressive. It was remodeled several times, but received its final decoration in 1681. The rooms are dedicated to the planets gravitating around Apollo, the god symbolizing the sun (which is Louis XIV's emblem) in Greek and Roman mythology.
I really wanted to see the mistresses apartments as well. But they were closed by the time we got to them. Too bad!
You can see the ancient figure of Apollo, the Sun God, all over the estate. The picture above shows the symbol in a clock.
The Grand Trianon palace was designed and built in 1687 for the purpose of being a recreational residence for Louis XIV and his family. It was used as a retreat at the far end of the park at Versailles; far away from the constraints of power and the crowd of courtiers. It could be reached by boat along the Grand Canal. It was constructed with pink marble... very cute! It consists of two main wings, joined together by a peristyle porch where you can see the beautiful gardens.
Outside of the Grand Trianon.
Porch connecting the left and right wings.
Notice the pretty pink marble. :)
And there was even pink furniture inside!
Pink walls, pink chairs, pink curtains... very cute!
This room above is known as the Cotelle Gallery. It's name comes from Jean Cotelle, who painted the Views of Versailles and Trianon, which decorate the walls. Stunning!
Now on to my favorite part of the Chateau de Versailles: Petit Trianon, also known as Marie-Antoinette's Estate.
The Petit Trianon was built in 1761, and given to Marie-Antoinette by Louis XVI in these terms, "Since you love flowers I am offering you a bouquet, it is the Petit Trianon." It stands in the middle of a "garden of plants."
I was told that the gardeners would change the color of the flowers in the potted plants daily, to match what Marie-Antoinette was wearing that day. You can see the pots in the picture above between the hedges. The Petit Trianon became her favorite place to stay, and I can certainly understand why! It was private, away from the main palace, and beautiful.
Mimi and I are standing on the classical-style Grand staircase.
Ending this post with a picture of a giant antique mirror in Marie-Antoinette's house (with us in the reflection). Oh how many things this mirror would have seen in the past... if only mirrors could talk!
I loved this place. Many more pictures on our shutterfly site!
Ichigo Daifuku is a modern "wagashi" (Japanese confection) or type of Japanese sweet. It combines the traditional "daifuku" which means "great fortune," with a fresh strawberry. It's white outside is called mochi, which is pounded rice cake. It's filled with a sweet azuki bean paste.
These were 180yen each, so about $2.25 per piece. I love the sweet mochi outside, but I'm not a huge fan of the red bean paste inside - although the fresh strawberry made it taste much better. Even though I don't particularly care for the red bean, I still find myself buying these treats all the time. Sometimes I scoop out the inside filling, and just eat the white outside. :)
