Today was another huge walking day. We went to Versailles!
We took the train from the famous St. Lazare train station. Monet painted it!
After a gorgeous train ride, we walked the rest of the way to Versailles.
When we arrived at Versailles, we were blown away by the opulence. It started out as a relatively normal Chateaux created by Louie XIII, but then Louie XIV went bananas and did much of the work to make it what it is today. Louie XV and Louie XVI also made enhancements, but Louie the XIV really did most of it.
The hall of mirrors was spectacular
There was also a hallway of huge paintings and also sculpture busts to commemorate famous battles in French history.
Then we toured the gardens. It was very hot, but the gardens were spectacular and I loved all the sunshine.
Clarissa had a hard time walking and I spent a lot of time carrying her (especially when she fell asleep). My back is still recovering (a week later) from all the carrying her in Versailles and on previous days, but I do love feeling so close to my little (and increasingly not so little) girl.
I neglected to take pictures of some of the pretty more narrow walkways, but the garden was a never ending array of pathways flanked by shrubs, bushes and/or trees. It was magical. We even got lost for a little bit on the way to the grand Trianon later in the day!
This is the Petite Trianon. The Trianons were meant to be places of retreat for when the pressures of Versailles felt overwhelming. The wife or mistress of various Kings usually occupied the Trianons.
My back is killing me……lol
A beautiful Grotto.
Marie Antoinette famously built an English cottage on Versailles because she loved the look of English cottages. So not authentic, but wow, they really did a great job recreating an English cottage. It was so charming!
Lily Commented a lot about how controlled nature was and how that was symbolic of how the government was controlling.
By this point, Lily’s feet were absolutely killing her. But being the adventurer that she is, she still really wanted to see the Grand Trianon.
We grabbed some orange juice before the walk to the restaurant.
We then took the walk to exit Versailles through the front gate where we entered.
Goodbye Versailles! We were dazzled by you, even though your history is very complicated. Wow that is a lot of money to through into a display of grandeur!
