Friday, 10 April 2009

Palace of Versailles

One of the most magnificent palaces of the world is the Palace of Versailles located in Versailles, France. It's extremely easy to get there from Paris with the train and a city map of Versailles, or follow the crowd from the station. If you love European Renaissance, it is very difficult not to be enchanted by this place.

The elaborate paintings with gold rims and designs, massive, fine crystal chandeliers immediately brings you back in time despite the heavy influx of tourists. But, what had me standing in awe is the beautiful garden of the palace. I imagined how easily deluded I can be if I wake up one morning to look out at the window to see the garden. The view can make you forget of all the cruelty in the world. No kidding.

The man who built the palace is King Louis XIV, otherwise known as the Sun King. In the palace, there was a huge painting which recorded the grandness of his coronation ceremony.

Hall of Mirrors


The unimaginably huge garden at the back of the palace. Oh, you have seen nothing yet for this is just a fraction of it. More beautiful gardens with stone sculptures such as those of Greek gods and tastefully-designed fountains can be found as you explore the garden broadly.




And this is just one building. The palace ground consists of several chateaus and what looked like a farm area as shown in the picture below.


It took us an entire day to tour around the place. There are shuttle services to get us around the different areas. And even that had left us with insufficient time to explore more.

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