Let Them Eat Cake!

After visiting the Palace of Versailles, I now know the differences between palaces and castles. Castles are nice, but they are made more for defensive purposes, whereas palaces are much more comfortable and are meant to be lived in. Let me take you on a journey of the gorgeous palace of Versailles….

To enter the Palace of Versailles, pass through beautiful gates decorated with gold designs of suns, crowns, and other symbols. Once inside the palace, one can see it’s grandeur. In fact, it’s big enough to hold the 10,000 people who lived here during Queen Marie Antoinette‘s time. I was very surprised to find out the palace was originally built as a hunting lodge by King Louis the 13th in 1624. It has certainly changed, with added chambers, a chapel, servant’s quarters, and many other beautifully decorated rooms. The decadence of the palace was a big factor that sparked the French Revolution in 1789; the people were furious to find their increasing taxes were being used towards this building for the royal family. The Revolution eventually ended up with the beheading of Queen Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis 16th.

The entrance to the palace through the gates.

The golden gates

A painting of Marie Antoinette and her two children.

I read a book recently called “Marie Antoinette Serial Killer” by Katie Alender, which took place in France and described many of the famous monuments and buildings. The author described the Hall of Mirrors by saying, “The room was as long as a football field, lined with gigantic mirrors, soaring arched windows, and classical statues. Hanging from the ceiling must have been forty crystal chandeliers.” The author describes it well, but I don’t think they were able to capture the true beauty of the hall. I think it is the most beautiful place in the whole palace.

The Hall of Mirrors has a deceiving name; before I visited, and after reading the book, I thought it was a hall made entirely out of mirrors, but soon found out it wasn’t entirely covered with them. The big windows let in the light, which bounces off the mirrors, so that it looks like the whole room is covered with mirrors and bathed in light. This hall also has a very important place in history, as it was where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War 1.

Gold statues

The chandeliers in the Hall of Mirrors.

Zoe and I in the Hall of Mirrors

The palace gardens are huge with marble statues, beautiful fountains and many types of plants. The garden is so big it seems to go on for kilometres! I wonder how much of the garden the residents of the palace even visited? The lawns are immaculate and the bushes are well maintained. They still look good enough for royalty!

Today, the Palace serves as a museum to show how French royalty lived. It also brings in a lot revenue for the country as it is visited by 3-5 million people a year. The monarchs of France would have definitely had a more comfortable lifestyle than the peasants! There are some families today who still leave flowers and wreaths in the spots where Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis the 16th were beheaded.  They do this because their families are linked with royalty and they would like to be important figures in society.

If I were a queen of France, I think I would like to live in the Palace of Versailles because it was so amazing, but I wouldn’t want to get my head chopped off!