Palace of Versailles

One of the things I was most excited about my visit to Paris was getting to chance to check out the Palace and Gardens of Versailles.  After experiencing much Facebook stalking envy from friends who had visited, as well as numerous drool-worthy pictures on blogs, I knew I had to make time to see Versailles.  When it came down to my last full day in Paris, I gave my friends an ultimatum: come to Versailles with me or I’ll go by myself!

Luckily my friends decided to grace my day with their presence and come to Versailles with me.  After our success with the Rick Steves Walking Tour of Paris and the Rick Steves Lourve Tour, we downloaded the Rick Steves Versailles the morning before we left.  We only ended up listening to the Palace portion of the tour, not the Gardens part, as it was too much fun to go frolicking around without Rick Steves in the background.  If you buy a ticket to the Palace, as we did, the ticket price includes an audio tour.  I didn’t listen to it, as I enjoy Rick Steves’ corny jokes too much, but that’s another alternative if you don’t have an Iphone or Ipod touch or access to Itunes.

The amount of detail in the Palace is absolutely incredible.  Its hard to remember that this was actually someone’s home!  Wishing I was Marie Antoinette in a previous life.  The Palace was originally built for King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King.  There are sun motifs throughout Versailles and his love of everything extravagant definitely shows through.  He was the longest reigning king in European history, and he is depicted in dozens of paintings and busts throughout the Palace.

And yes, the Hall of Mirrors is gorgeous.

Although the actual Palace is huge, most of it is closed off to the public.  Its also extremely crowded!  Its nearly impossible to take any pictures without other people in them.  We went on a weekday, in the off season, and it was filled to the brim with tourists.  Oh well, what can you expect?  I honestly was a little disappointed with the Palace.  The Gardens are where its at!  If I go again, I will stick to the Gardens to save some money and check out the Trianon Palace and Marie Antoinette’s Estate, both located in the Gardens.  I just wasn’t blown away by the Palace itself, while I was constantly awed by the Gardens.

Most people want to see both, understandably.  I’m glad I did see the Palace for myself, but next time I’ll spend the day in the Gardens.

Logistics:

• Versailles is pretty easy to get to from Paris: you hop on the RER train from specific Metro stops and take the 40 minute train to the city of Versailles for 6 euro roundtrip.  From the train the Palace itself is about a 10 minute walk: there’s a map right outside of the station or you can just follow the crowds.
• Get there early!  As waking up before noon proved impossible for my group, we missed out on several parts of Versailles that I would have loved to see (much of the Gardens and Marie Antoinette’s estate.)  You’ll want to devote an entire day to Versailles.
• Entrance to the Gardens is free during the week (8 euro on weekends), while a ticket to the Palace is 15 euro.  A ticket to the Trianon Palace and Marie Antoinette’s Estate is 10 euro.  A “Passport,” which includes access to everything is 18 euro.  You can also use your Paris Museum Pass for Versailles.  Go during the week to save money and avoid the crowds.
• Food!  There’s several food options on the grounds.  I indulged in ice cream (2,5 euro) and a tomato and cheese baguette sandwich (5 euro.)  Or bring your own picnic!  Pretty sure the Garden of Versailles is the most epic picnic spot in the world.  There’s also several restaurants that are nicer but more expensive.