Versaille- the largest palace in the world, proved almost impossible to capture on film from the outside with its unutterably massive scale. Inside was a strange juxtaposition of opulently decorated walls for rooms empty of any furniture. Versaille was once the center of the French state- then an absolute monarchy- for about 170 years. Though a royal home had existed before, one can safely say the palace as we know it today was  built by Louis the Fourteenth. In many ways a brilliant politician, he schemed to bring all his nobles with him to his new palace in order to keep them under control. He also was the first royal in Europe to provide care to his soldiers who were wounded in battle; on the other hand, Louis the fourteenth was also incredibly egotistic, and arguably hedonistic. When the French Revolution came most of the personal effects of the royal family, including most of what was in Versaille, was auctioned off to Europe's nobles in order to fund the wars against these same noble's countries. The building itself was partially restored by first Emperor Napoleon and then King Phillip-Louise as a museum.

Above you can see some of the statues and frescoes that adorn the palace, as well as its most famous room, the Hall of Mirrors through which petitioners would gather to see the king enthroned.

The palace was mobbed by tourists with  lines that were unexpectedly long and disorganized lines (and we'd anticipated long lines, but this was unbelievable even so), so we only saw the main building and then spent our afternoon enjoying the extensive gardens, which you can see a bit of below.










The formal gardens has musical water "show," where all the fountains were on, gushing forth. Classical music created an ambiance that, aided with the tall walls formed by the hedges, helped simulated the seemingly impossible- you almost felt alone, lost in this world of natural beauty and pleasures. Stumbling upon one fountain after another felt like taking a peek into Alice's Wonderland. The hedges opened up unto a huge pool with Neptune rising from his the waters in his chariot (above) and behind them the Grand Canal, which measures over a mile long. How we wished we could have gotten on the row boats, but the daunting line changed our minds and we instead fed the fish in the canal. Long used to humans, they would gather at the edge of the water, right below the surface and gape their mouth open for any bread you might want to share.

It was the only truly sunny and hot day we had, pleasant for the gorgeous skies we got, a bit unfortunate in that sunscreen was forgotten. But regardless it made for some stunning memories together.

PS See more of our adventures with Paris Dairies, and Paris Dairies: Mona Lisa and a Night on the Seine.

Or check out our other travels to San Francisco and Portland.