Golden Versailles

After being back in the States for a while, I hadn't seen a castle or a chateau in a good two weeks, so I was really due to visit one... and it worked out perfectly that Kat, Alexis, Lorena, and I went off to see the Chateau de Versailles just one day after my arrival in France! Only about a half hour's train ride from Paris, Versailles is probably the most opulent palace--or even just place--I have ever seen. There is gold everywhere. There is stunning detail everywhere. There is velvet and marble and chandeliers everywhere. The paintings on the ceilings almost put the entire Musee d'Orsay to shame. For goodness' sake, can we talk ceilings for a minute?! I have so many pictures of the gorgeous fresco ceilings, I just don't know what to do with them all! And we were really so lucky--I had heard that entering Versailles could take a good two hours of standing in line, but for us it took barely ten minutes!

There's not too much to write about our trip to Versailles, as in this particular case, pictures will say much, much more than words. So the rest of this post is just going to be a roll of pictures, with maybe a few small paragraphs of commentary thrown in between. It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words, so this blog post will be very, very long... tens of thousands of words! Enjoy the trip to the Chateau de Versailles as seen through my camera lens!

When even the gates are golden, you know this is going to be good

 

The Queen's bed was so golden, I don't know how it
was comfortable to sleep in

 

 

And here begins a stream of pictures of ceilings. And honestly, this is only a fraction of the ceilings I could've shown. I'm sorry, they were just so impressive. I swear, each room in the chateau was just magnificent from every angle--and if you know anything about Versailles, you know that it is enormous! Note the gold and marble that surround some of the frescos. Really, not a centime (French penny) was spared to make Versailles the most opulent palace in the world. No wonder the rest of France was broke after this place was built!



One of the most unique ceilings--made completely of richly detailed stone work!

Now, onto the famous Hall of Mirrors! One of the prettiest parts of Versailles in my opinion, and I'm sure most of the rest of the world agrees. It was so unbelievably ornate! Although I must say, the mirrors are in dire need of a good cleaning! We noticed that as the four of us were taking a few "mirror selfies" just for fun. Mirror selfies in the Hall of Mirrors!

Here's one mirror selfie! Even the stools are encrusted with gold...

 

 

The four of us in the Hall of Mirrors! L-R: Alexis, me, Kat, and Lorena

 

Lorena and I at the Hall of Mirrors

 

Finally, onto the Gardens. Versailles' grounds are quite extensive, filled with forests and ponds and fountains and statues and gardens. Originally, Versailles was a hunting lodge for one of France's numerous King Louis (the final result ending up a bit more... expensive than your average hunting lodge) but that explains why it is set outside of Paris, near a forest. Unfortunately, the four of us didn't have too much time to explore the grounds, but what we saw was beautiful, as to be expected from such a place as Versailles.

 

One of the many statues in the gardens of Versailles

Winter day at Versailles!

My three friends, taking a stroll through the gardens of Versailles!