Let them eat cake

What was once a hunting lodge for Louis XIII eventually became a symbol of excess for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Although Versailles was not a popular place to be at the turn of of the 19th century, today it is one of the most visited sites in the world. I kept thinking the entire time that we were there: To be a fly on that wall in 1789 must have been interesting!

The last day of our Paris weekend was spent with the family at Versailles. This place is enormous. It's hard to comprehend that an individual visualized an estate this big. The palace, grounds, artwork, flowers, fountains, gardens, gardens, and more gardens! It's massive. 

For our Versailles tour, we decided to pay to see the interior of  the château and afterwards took a tour of the gardens, which are free and open to the public. We opted not to visit Marie Antoinette's private estate and the Grand Trianon. We will save that for a another trip. 

The King's bedroom

The infamous Hall of Mirrors

Marie Antoinette's bedroom

Versailles was crowded and walking through the palace was a little stressful for me. There was traffic walking through each section and after awhile we needed a break. Jaap and I were happy to get outside for some fresh air and tour the gardens. We took the tram up to Marie Antoinette's private estate and walked through the northern part of the grounds. We sat along the Grand Canal ate some crêpes and enjoyed watching the ducks swim around. Afterwards we went explored different sections of grounds.  You can really get lost there and at times find yourself completely separated from all the tourists. We shared some nice peaceful moments together. It was a great way to end our trip to Versailles.

Next time..... The Pardo/Dalrymple family visit continues. We go to Oirschot in Noord Brabant to visit the Jansens!