"Half a Day in Versailles" a Versailles Travel Page by mabelyn

Early in the morning after our strong coffee and chocolate croissants we took a train to Versailles. By nine o'clock we were already in line with a zillion Japanese tourists at the doors of the chateau. Versailles was the home of Marie Antoinette, famous for the "Let them eat cake" comment that cost her her head. The chateau of Versailles has more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres of park. The paintings, tapestries , sculptures, and the furniture of this fabulous castle were executed by the best Italian and French artists of the time, but in my opinion all of it has an air of tackiness that I couldn't shake. Louis XIV (the Sun King as he is known) had the face of Apollo engraved in every single one of his doors. He had a gigantic man made pond dug out so that he could have regatta costume parties and eat grapes with all his foppy friends. The gardens are huge but also highly uninspired. The whole place has the aura of someone who was bored and just needed to fill up space. Too much money and too much time. Urns and statutes are everywhere along with neatly trimmed shrubs and benches. The whole Versailles experience as a whole was somewhat of a disappointment. It was crowded and stuffy in the rooms. The decor was excessively frilly and the hall of mirrors looks nicer in pictures. Overall I'm glad I saw the famous Versailles, but it just wasn't my kind of place. I think my favorite thing is Versailles was the statue of Diana (the archer of Versailles).