To say the Palace of Versailles is big is a bit of an understatement. But first some words about the queues and the inadequate system for admitting visitors. We arrived in Versailles mid afternoon on a Saturday, knowing in advance that there would be queues. Versailles itself is a pleasant suburb about 10 miles southwest of Paris. Our hotel was only 5 minutes walk from the Palace and we had pre-booked admission so hoped to get in reasonably quickly. I've been to festivals and big events over the years so have experience of queuing. As we went through the entrance gate, with our bags given a cursory examination we joined what looked like a short(ish) queue headed to 'Entrance A' for those with pre-purchased tickets. What we didn't realise was that the queue to go in this entrance snaked up and down several times and moved at the pace of an arthritic snail. There's no information on where to line up or how long the queue might take. An hour and a half later the reason for the long wait became clear. All bags are scanned for security (not unreasonably) but the Palace of Versailles has only two scanners to cater with the estimated 15,000 visitors a day, one of which is reserved for people who have paid for beat the queue access. As a result of this system progress to get into the Palace is agonisingly slow.
Queuing...not just a British tradition...
At least the wait gave us a chance to enjoy the exterior views. The facades are decorated in gold and gold railings project a sense of power and unlimited wealth. Two wings project the words 'A Tout Les Gloires De La France'. Clearly the glories didn't extend to designing an efficient visitor admission system.
A brief darkening of the skies and flurry of raindrops was welcome in the humid heat and eventually we got inside and followed the hordes through the palace. It was built by Louis XIV, the Sun King, on the site of a former hunting lodge in 1682. It was then developed and expanded by the successor kings Louis XV and XVI, until being stormed by the peasants in the French Revolution of 1789. The palace itself is huge in terms of scale and interior decoration, an assault on the eyes. The royal apartments are, as you would expect grandiose. Rooms are decorated with large paintings - many portraits of Royals, aristocrats, and military leaders cover the walls. Ceiling friezes, walls covered in expensive fabrics and adorned with elaborate mouldings create a riot of colour with incredible amounts of detail.
We saw the royal chapel and bedchambers, including the room Marie Antoinette slept in, which had a hidden door that she used to flee the palace following the revolution.
Marie Antoinette's bedchamber
Marie Antoinette and two of her children
The stand out room in terms of over the top decor is the famous Hall of Mirrors. Around 73 meters long this room, flanked by the 'War' Room and 'Peace Room', is lined with walls of Venetian mirror glass opposite the arched windows that overlook the gardens. Glass chandeliers illuminate the room reflecting light between the mirror glass and the windows. The ceiling has large paintings and there's rather a lot of gold. Its rather overwhelming - because there is just so much to take in.
In the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
After a couple of hours we'd been squeezed by the crowds and had trundled through many, many rooms somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer scale of Versailles. We left returning to the comfort of an air conditioned room to cool off before looking for somewhere to eat. Eventually we settled on a curry! We'd booked a 2 day pass for Versailles so woke and breakfasted early on the next morning, aiming to beat the queues. This was partly successful in that we only queued for an hour, and rather than revisit the palace we headed to the gardens.
Beating the crowds on a Sunday morning...
If the palace felt big then the gardens felt even bigger. Close to the palace were floral displays in large beds but further away were tall hedges hiding ornate fountains. As it was a weekend the palace had a 'Musical Fountains Show'. At set intervals some of the fountains sprung to life, and classical music boomed from speakers hidden in the shrubbery.
As it was still early in the day the gardens were still relatively quiet so we spent a least a couple of hours exploring all the nooks and crannies. Included in our ticket was admission to the estate of Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon.
Grand Trianon
Both are about 20 minutes walk from Versailles gardens. The former is a marble mini palace built by Louis XIV as a retreat to meet his mistress away from court etiquette. Petit Trianon was built by Louis XV also as a place to meet his mistress but became a favourite place of Marie Antoinette who decorated it to her taste and had an English garden created.
Petit Trianon
She also had built the whimsical hamlet 'Hameau de la Reine' in a rural rustic style. Its all very pretty but has the atmosphere of an 18th century Disney village.
One of the 'rustic' buildings in the Hameau de la Reine
Whilst walking to the hamlet Mrs B spotted a water vole and I then saw another in the stream that runs through the landscaped grounds. Large blue dragon flies flitted around in the heat of the afternoon. The sun had been beating down all day.
A water vole oblivious to the crowds of visitors
We had been walking for about 6 hours so decided that we'd seen enough. We walked back through the gardens for a final view of the palace, discovering more fountains in hidden groves.
There's so much to take in a Versailles that it would be quite easy to spend days exploring. Leaving having walked about 8 miles I reflected that Versailles palace and the gardens are impressive in terms of scale, imagination and creativity but also an uncomfortable reminder of the social and economic environment of the time, a period of appalling inequality. In the 17th and 18th centuries France had a population of around 20 million. Most of the population would have lived in relative poverty whilst at the same time a tiny group of aristocrats, centred around an absolute monarch, had incredible amounts of wealth and power. Eventually of course the edifice came crashing down and the French Revolution ushered in a republic, emperors, brief restoration of the monarchy and further republics. With plenty of food for thought we dined outside at a traditional French restaurant enjoying a tasty meal in a street only 5 minutes from the palace. Our journey was almost over but there was one final stage of the trip to complete so early the next morning we drove into the rush hour traffic headed towards Calais.
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