A trip to Versailles should be almost a must-do on your itinerary if you go to Paris. The fastest way to get there is by taking the RER C train. Don’t forget to reserve a day for this trip. The vast and luxurious castle with its beautiful park is definitely worth it. But let’s face it, it’s a tourist trap.
The courtyard in front of the castle is divided into zones – a separate queue for tickets for individuals and a separate queue for groups. It’s a good idea to get your bearings first so you don’t waste time waiting in the wrong queue. Everything is fairly well signposted here, though. What scared me a bit during my visit was the approximately 200-metre long queue for visitors with tickets already purchased online, which was waiting at the castle when we arrived. There was a much smaller one at the entrance with the sign “Tickets”. Fortunately, another, much smaller queue suddenly started to form and we actually beat the whole line. So always keep your eyes on the stopwatch.
I would like to show you that a trip to Versailles does not necessarily mean that you have to spend the day in the palace chambers. There is much more to see in the surrounding area. The gardens of Versailles are almost as beautiful as the palace itself. They are definitely worth a walk, even though they are very large. The gardens are elaborated down to the smallest detail. If you decide to skip them during your visit, I think you would miss the very best.
GO TO THE GARDENS
They are truly amazing and hide a multitude of treasures and surprises. In short, it is a magnificent geometric work. The gardens of Versailles were created primarily to entertain the court, the king and his guests. And so they needed to be visited and admired. The Sun King Louis XIV himself wrote a guide in his own hand, in which he set out twelve different walks as the most suitable routes for exploring his magnificent gardens. Here you will find magical groves with fountains, statues inspired by stories from ancient mythology. The gardens were created by the gardener Le Nôtre. It is said that the Sun King loved him the most of all his subjects. When he grew old and could not walk, the king himself pushed him in a cart around the gardens of Versailles so that they could admire his work together.
DON’T MISS THE PLAYING FOUNTAINS
(ATTENTION! ONLY ON WEEKENDS)
On weekends, beautiful fountains are in operation and the Festival of the Playing Fountains (Grandes Eaux Musicales) is taking place, during which the local fountains gush to the rhythm of classical music. So definitely don’t miss it, because you won’t see this during the week. However, there is a fee for entering the gardens. As they say, for little money, little music. During this period, the local fountains gush to the rhythm of impressive classical music in the gardens of Versailles.
THE CASTLE WHERE ANGELIKA WALKED
Who doesn’t know the stories of Angelica, who married the Count de Peyrac at the age of 17? In Versailles, you can find traces of Angelica at every step. The construction of the castle was the work of King Louis XIV, who one day in the second half of the seventeenth century decided to transform his small hunting lodge into a residence of unprecedented dimensions. His highness can also be found in one of the works about Angelica.
According to legend, 30,000 people participated in the construction. No one knows to this day how much Louis actually spent on the construction of Versailles, because he burned all the accounts to be sure. He knew very well what would happen if the people found out how much money was drained from the state treasury. The castle has several parts: The South Wing, the North Wing, the Royal Courtyard, the Marble Courtyard, the Opera House and the Hall of Mirrors. The entire castle is U-shaped.
The first steps through the castle rooms will take your breath away. You don’t see so much luxury in one place. Unfortunately, you have to expect that you will be crowded with other tourists. But the rooms and halls full of marble, gold, silver, tapestries and precious stones are worth it.
The core consists mainly of the royal bedrooms, which are truly breathtaking!
The Hall of Mirrors is almost eighty meters long and decorated with beautiful paintings. As the name suggests, you will find many mirrors here that play with the daylight. The famous Hall of Mirrors is 75 meters long and 10 meters wide and is famous for its 17 huge windows overlooking the park and 17 crystal mirrors on the opposite wall. Louis XIV had it lit up with three thousand candles every evening.
One would think that life here was idyllic. Unfortunately, it was cold in the castle rooms in winter. A lot of the windows were drafty. In the summer, for a change, the sun was scorching and unbearable. The castle stood on the site of former marshes. So you can certainly imagine what it was like here? There was an unpleasant smell in the air. Wigs were not worn for show, but to cover greasy hair, and they used scrunchies against everything. There were no toilets in the castle, so the subjects relieved themselves anywhere (it is said that the ladies could even do so on the parquet floor). King Louis XIV himself used a so-called stool (toilet chair) instead of a toilet and often sat on it during meetings.
QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTA
-HER MOTHER’S MOST FAMOUS DAUGHTER
The most famous daughter of Empress Maria Theresa left an indelible mark on the French chateau. Her new chamber opened here in April and I honestly think it’s the most beautiful of them all. Queen Marie Antoinette lived behind the walls of the Palace of Versailles, untouched by reality, which of course had an impact on the way she lived.
And what do the gossips say about her? She loved floral scents. Her perfumes smelled of violets and roses, her skin and hair pomades of jasmine and carnations. She used bags of purple and essential oils such as lavender and orange blossom to scent her chambers. You may not have known this, but her life was a bit like a public theater. Anyone could come to the castle and watch what the royal family was doing, such as having lunch. That is why it was very important for her to maintain her youthful appearance. She took the greatest care of her hands and slept in cosmetic gloves soaked in a mixture of almond oil, rose water and beeswax. Most people bathed once a year, but Antoinette took a bath every day in warm water with lavender and lemon aroma. She washed herself with herbal, amber or bergamot soap. She used a flannel shirt for bathing.
In fact, all of Antoinette’s entertainment and hobbies cost a lot of money. As for her wardrobe, she had three hundred models made for her a year. In short, she knew how to enjoy herself – jewelry, parties, balls, gambling, and also the maintenance of all the royal properties cost a lot of money. But slowly the French people began to run out of patience. Antoinette got upset and started making frugal gestures. She stopped buying shoes and had her worn ones repaired. She even stopped organizing balls. However, this could not save the state’s savings. After the storming of the Bastille, she became a symbol of the French monarchy, and we all know how it turned out for her.
Personally, I think that Marie Antoinette was very unhappy. She married the French heir to the throne, Louis, who was a year older than her, at the age of less than fifteen. Their relationship was initially complicated, especially because the young couple had problems with their intimate life. It was only after seven years that the queen’s older brother Joseph II spoke to both of them and discovered that Louis was suffering from so-called phimosis, or deformation of the foreskin. He removed it with a simple surgical procedure. They then became close friends and loved each other. This was despite the fact that Marie Antoinette later took a lover, Axel Fersen, whom she truly loved.
First, she gave birth to her beloved Madame Royale – Marie Therese Charlotte. She was a disappointment to Antoinette, because she longed for a son. Nevertheless, she took exemplary care of the little girl and even breastfed her herself. When the heir to the throne, Louis Joseph Xaver, was born, he looked a lot like Axel Fersen, but no one worried about it too much. Soon another son was born, and after that a little girl, who was deformed and died after only eleven months.
MARIE ANTOINETTE’S VILLAGE
Antoinette didn’t live much in reality, so at the end of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles lies Marie Antoinette’s village. There are houses here that look like they were cut out of Hobbiton. You can find a pond, a mill, stables, a dairy, fields and vegetable gardens. The land where it is located was given to her by her husband. Each of the houses had a garden around it, with flowers and vegetables. On the side of the village is a farm where animals are still kept to this day. She and her friends used to go there to escape the strict court etiquette. She wasn’t very happy, so playing at a village idyll made her happier.
LITTLE TRIANON
The entire estate of Marie Antoinette also includes the Petit Trianon. The Petit Trianon was built by Louis XV at the end of the 18th century at the instigation of his mistress Madame de Pompadour. They wanted to have an undisturbed place for themselves so that they could meet here and at the same time be close to the main palace. However, Marie did not use this place for philandering, but to relax from the court. On the ground floor there is a room for the guards, a billiard room and a room with dishes and porcelain. It was very difficult to find the original furniture, which was stolen and sold off during the revolution. The administration of the Palace of Versailles partially restored it and had to make it again. The floral wallpapers, which are based on the original patterns discovered during the restoration work, are also beautiful and, above all, authentic.
Among other things, you will find a wooden toilet with a flush toilet. It was probably this spacious because most of the dresses the queen wore were space-consuming.
If you are interested, as I am, I recommend watching the film about this queen made by the American director Sofia Coppola. Some scenes were filmed right in Versailles. I think it is a great advertisement for Versailles.
A visit to Versailles is definitely worth it. This gem, born of desire, fear, and childhood memories, will surely leave beautiful memories in you, as it did in me.
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