A G: Paris Day 4 by Gordon, Palace of Versailles

Paris Day 4, Palace of Versailles 凡尔赛宫

~ Gordon

At the entrance of Versailles

At the fountain of Versailles

At North Parterre

Our last day in Paris was grand, as we spent the whole day at Versailles. It is mainly dedicated to king Louis XIV. The king's main palace, Gallery of Battles, State Apartments and Louis XIV rooms are grand with lots of precious paintings and rooms. The garden is gigantic with a lot of fountains and interesting groves, plus a little train. Many God Apollo wall paintings and statues can be found at Versailles. The King Louis XIV must have loved the god Apollo.

Off the train

walking towards Versailles

Statue of Louis XIV in

front of Versailles

Busy Versailles always crowded

Versailles train station

Statue of Louis XIV in

front of Versailles

Versailles is located at rural area of Paris. Not a problem, ride on a comfortable train. An hour later, you will be at Versailles. As we followed the crowds and walked towards Versailles, a statue of Louis XIV popped into my eyes. You won't miss it. Then, I know this palace was mainly devoted to king Louis XIV right away.

Long waiting line at the entrance of Versailles

State Apartments of Versailles

About an hour waiting in line, we finally got into the main palace. You can look at the palace as long as you want. Just need to remember, you have to see the gardens before Versailles is closed.

Versailles was originally founded in 1624, not as a royal residence, but a hunting lodge. Louis XIV began expanding the hunting lodge in 1669. Louis XIV, had a big interest in Versailles. He moved from heart of Paris and settled down here in 1661. Since then, it was expanded to be one of the largest palaces in the world. Versailles houses the royal families of France from 1682 to 1790. There can be a lot of interesting things found at Versailles. You can see that the huge palace in the front, and 2 small palaces (summer escape palaces) 1 km away at the back! The mini maze of trees is very interesting. The trees are in dark green. You can't miss them. Can you believe that it is a little part of the garden?

Hallway

Royal Chapel

State Apartments

Hercules Room

Venus Room

Mars Room

Apollo Room

War Room

Hall of Mirrors

Louis XIV Rooms

King's bedroom

Bull-Eye Room

King's guard room

Stairs

At the stairs

1792 Room

only room dedicated to

wars of the French Revolution

Gallery of Battles

Jeanne d'Arc

8 May 1429

The Siege of Yorktown

October 1781

Mesdame's Apartments

Garden of

Mesdame's Apartments

State Apartments includes 7 rooms, which used fro the sovereign's official acts. Louis XIV Rooms are located at the first floor of Versailles main building. There are many of them, including King's bedroom and dining room. You can go into all the rooms, including private ones at that time! Gallery of Great Battles room carries the paintings with all important greatest French victories.

Grand Trianon

At garden of Grand Trianon

Grand Trianon's name is very fit. They are both very grand. The Grand Trianon is split into 2 parts, the left wing and the right wing. The right wing has many more places to go to then the left wing. However, they are equally interesting. A few rooms may contain a few special things, such as the king's family drawing room. There is also the family drawing room!

Marie-Antoinette portrait at Petit Trianon

Petit Trianon

Petit Trianon was fun. It was where Queen Marie-Antoinette hid from the crowd in the summer. Queen Marie-Antoinette's husband, Louis XVI lived in there as well. There is a pattern on the staircase ornament, which is called the Madusa's head. It can be very interesting to look at.

North Parterre

Latona's fountain

North Parterre

Latona's fountain

Ceres fountain, Latona's fountain, Bacchus fountain

Latona's fountain

Latona's fountain & Parterre

Step out from the main front palace, I was amazed by the huge beautiful gardens. The gardens contain many groves. If you are lucky like us, you can see the musical fountains show from 3:30 to 5:00 pm. Luckily, my favorite Baroque period songs were the main music for the fountains of this summer season. The staff provided us a map of the fountain show. Our target is to follow the map and walked to all the fountains. Mission impossible! Not jogging, we even run between the fountains. We still have a few fountains left unseen. That shows how big the garden is. No doubt about it.

Garden of Versailles

Music Fountain

Apollo's Fountain

Swan at Apollo's Fountain

Apollo's music fountain show

Walking along the central path, leading us to the Apollo's Fountain. It is the main fountain located at the end of the gardens. We reached a pool with horses and a man with a chariot. We knew this was one of Versailles's garden signature, the Apollo's Fountain. Elegant swans swam at the fountain.

Three Fountains Grove

Neptune Fountain

The fountain show finale, Neptune fountain show, was one of the best. It was really big. It lasted for about 10 minutes. The fountain has a sculptor of a sea god with a trident. But, he was not Poseidon.

Neptune music fountain 1

Neptune music fountain 2

After the fountain show, we still can stay at Versailles until 7pm. This is the opportunity to continue finishing all the fountains we did not see during the music fountain show. The crowds already gone and the train station was not squeeze any more. Now is the time for us to head hotel. Another exciting day is over.

At the entrance of Versailles

Our last day in Paris was really outstanding. Louis XIV's main palace was so fun, as it contained many historical things. There was a lot of musical fountains and interesting groves for us to see and listen. So many places in Paris were fun, and this is one of the best four days in Paris!