Versailles

We went to Versailles over the weekend! There were some parts of it that I remembered from my visit with my family back in 2005, and some things that were entirely new.

Have a look (pictures got all out of order, apologies):

The outside is just as ornately decorated as the inside- shock and awe, I guess

A good example of the general opulence inside

I WANT THIS DESK

This is... well... this is a velvet toilet. I have incredible respect for the chutzpah it took to commission a velvet-covered toilet. 

Louis XIV- The mastermind/egomaniac himself

This sort of sums up the whole idea

In front of the incredibly bright gold gates!

The king's private library- WANT

What is so special about this room is its lack of windows- in a time when a skilled worker could afford 1 candle a week, the king used over 2000 for a 4-hour card game. More than any other room, this one little card room helped him show off the extreme wealth and opulence of Versailles.

I was very taken with this hallway/staircase

I adore this staircase. I wish I'd had a chance to explore it, but it just peeked out of the door as we passed...

The chapel. AKA the my favorite part. 

Incredible ceiling- ever bit of ceiling, including under the walkways of the two levels on the side, had intense murals.

Everywhere else, you have to really put yourself in the mindset of what 18th century France was like in order to understand how truly decadent Versailles is. Being fully aware of just how much pure gold is surrounding you helps as well. But in this chapel, with it's soaring ceilings and lots of light, I was genuinely impressed without having to go through the steps outlined above. 

I think this is a small candle holder imbedded into a wall. Even that is pure decadence! 

And here it is, the Hall of Mirrors. Far more impressive than the last time I saw it, when it was under renovations  and they had boarded up the mirrors and windows.

Another mural ceiling, and lovely lovely chandeliers 

Artemis?

The swirly landscaping

I actually don't have anything to say here. But every other picture has a caption, and I thought it would look weird to leave this blank...

The view looking back at Versailles from the gardens

Versailles stretches down well over a mile, and also expands out. There are actually several more areas further down, like Marie Antoinette's little peasant village and the place Napoleon created for himself, that I didn't have a chance to visit. They would down a ways and to the right in this photo.