This is a view of the main entrance to the château, or castle,
of Versailles, one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions. The castle (which I
prefer to call a palace, since I picture castles having high turrets or something) was the
seat of French governments and residence of French kings for more than a hundred years, until
the French revolution toppled the monarchy. Today, the castle and the gardens surrounding it
are a national monument. Tens of thousands of people visit this landmark every day.
Versailles is about 22 km southwest of Paris. It exists mainly because it grew
up around the royal palace seen here, which was built in the 17th century by
Louis XIV. The kings stayed there until the French Revolution in 1789.
At one time, 20,000 people worked and lived at the court of Versailles, with 5000 people
living in the palace, and the rest in the surrounding area. Today, that many people visit
the palace and gardens every day. The entire population of Versailles (including the surrounding
town) was only about 30,000 when the royals lived there. Today, the population is around 100,000.
The city is quite a nice place to live, although it’s a bit expensive (but cheaper than Paris).
You’ll notice that this photograph does not particularly flatter the palace. However, this is
the way it really looks on a typical autumn morning. You’re looking at the palace
from the cobblestone walkway that leads to the entrance from the parking lots, which are on
either side of the frame. On the right is the parking
lot for normal cars, which is where I was parked, and on the left is the
parking lot for tour buses, which is always packed full. The little white tents you see on either
side of the walkway are souvenir and gift vendors. Part of the palace on the right was undergoing
restoration (something is always undergoing restoration in Europe!).
The palace is quite big. The entrance is about 800 m away from where I was standing with the
camera.
You can visit the main apartments of the king and queen on your own, for a fee. You can also take
guided tours in English or French that are far more extensive and show many other parts of the castle.
I recommend these guided tours over the self-tour, both because it is more complete, and because it is more interesting.
Whatever you do, be prepared to wait for long periods in line. And bring sensible shoes without heels; if you don’t
you’ll trip and sprain your ankle (or worse) on the extremely uneven cobblestones around the palace, and thereby bring
a quick end to your visit to Versailles. Note that, despite all the tours, the vast majority of the palace is not
open to the public (I’m not sure what is done with most of it). A lot of the furniture is gone, too, because
it was all auctioned off for a song during the French revolution—most rooms are empty in consequence, although
the state is trying to gradually locate and buy back the stuff that was sold.
On the right side of the palace, you can see the built-in church for the use of the royals. There is a fabulous
opera house within the castle that is worth a visit, but you need to take the guided tour to see it.
Behind this castle is 2000 acres of beautiful gardens and parks—the famous gardens of Versailles. I have other photographs
showing parts of these (but not all, since it is too huge for me to take pictures of everything).
