Let Them Eat Cake: Versailles, France

by: Jessica Boyd

We took a day trip to Versailles, which was one of the trips I was looking forward to the most while in France. It is only a short ride on the RER out of Paris.

 It was built during one of the turning points of French history and played a pivotal role. Imagine the most opulent space you’ve ever seen and then multiply it times 100; that is what Versailles looks like. The palace alone is impressive. Every surface that can be gilded in high quality gold is. The place almost doesn’t need lights because the gold sparkles so much. Everyone talks about the hall of mirrors and how amazing it is, and they are definitely right. The space serves little functional purpose but to connect the King’s apartments to the Queen’s. However, the Louies did not see that as an excuse to create a boring space. During the 1600s, mirrors were only made in Venice. However, Louis wanted to show off and decided to lure some of the craftsmen to France to make the mirrors (which are made from mercury) for his hall.

If you think the palace is impressive, just wait until you walk through the “gardens.” They go on for miles. We walked around them for about 3 hours and only made a dent in seeing all there is to offer. Marie Antoinette hated Versailles and Louis and the French court so she demanded her own house built on the grounds. You can tell that it was a space made for a woman; the entire outer facade is made from pink marble. In comparison, this space is but a mere cottage with only one or two bedrooms and about 5 sitting rooms/parlors.

We also stumbled upon the peasant’s village that Marie had built so she could experience how the other half of the world lived. The cottages and barns are in a romantic style with thatched roofs and perfectly manicured gardens. It is said that she would go there to work in the garden and would even collect chicken eggs from the coop.

Louis XIV was a strange bird. There are several fountains and statues in the garden of Apollo, whom Louis compared himself to. He is known as the Sun King and all over the palace you can find the symbol of his reign: his face inside of a starburst. 

The trip definitely did not disappoint. I only wish that we could have gone later in the spring so that the gardens would be in full bloom, but even surrounded by dead shrubbery, you cannot deny the majesty, grandeur and extravagance that is Versailles.