Bling, bling and more bling

Palace of Versailles.

We took a break from sightseeing around Paris and headed out of the city to visit Versailles, that grand palace where too much gold was never enough. As we were a little later getting organised (those early morning starts are a killer for teenagers!), Versailles was already teeming with tourists and coaches, so once through security, where Peet had to check in the dangerous butter knife we'd brought to use on our picnic food, we headed straight out into the gardens to get away from the crowds.

The entire Versailles estate is massive with the main palace, the smaller palaces of Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon and beautifully manicured gardens, hedges and park land stretching as far as the eye can see. Not to mention the hundreds of huge statues, gigantic urns and fancy fountains gracing the grounds. 

We spent a couple of very pleasant hours wandering through the gardens enjoying the beautiful spring weather and making our way to the smaller palaces - the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon - where Marie Antoinette and the king escaped from the hustle and bustle of the main court.

Anika was keen to head off exploring the grounds on her own, but with only 1 map between 4 of us and knowing that other friends who had visited here managed to get lost, we decided it was not such a good idea. Seeing a little squirrel darting off along one of the forest paths managed to placate her to some degree.

The Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon were still interesting to look at and not crowded at all, being a good 1 and 1/2 kms away from the main entrance, so lots of tourists don't seem to venture that far. These palaces were certainly not as fancy as the main one but to say that the French nobility liked to decorate with a bit of gold is an understatement. I'm sure the words 'taste' and 'restraint' didn't enter into their decorating vocabulary.

Unfortunately the dairy and working farm on the estate where Marie Antoinette 'played' at being a humble milkmaid while the real peasants outside the gates starved and revolted, was closed as it was too early in the tourist season.

The main palace of Versailles was full on bling with gold covering every available surface dazzling the eye. The famous Hall of Mirrors was one long room of wall to wall mirrors and gigantic chandeliers. Even the ceilings didn't escape the decorator's touch being painted to within an inch of their lives. Our whole house could easily have fitted into one of the many ballrooms. No wonder the peasants rebelled!

There's only so much you can take in of room after room of gold, brocade curtains, massive gilt frame mirrors, more gold, marble fireplaces, chandeliers, flock wallpaper and a little bit more gold to top it all off, so after a good day of wandering and exclaiming we headed back home on the train, tired and footsore, back to Paris with all the other tourists.