Paris: Gobelins Summer School - Versailles

Château de Versailles is one of the most impressive places that I've visited. The close to 3 hour queue in the rain just to get a ticket is totally worth every penny of it. The only shame is that there are too many things to see, feast your eyes upon and appreciate, so little time.

(This is only a very small part of the huge palace complex and colossal gardens.)

Sculptures dots the exterior of the luxurious halls.

The weather has been fairly cooperative that day. It rained while I waited to go in but the clouds were banished the moment I purchased the ticket, only returning occasionally to ease the sheltering heat beneath the brilliant summer sun. I took to the interior of the palace first before heading out to the garden when the sun was less fierce.

This is the chapel, with the mural on the ceiling.

In fact, all of the ceilings are very illustriously decorated. With paintings from Christians to pagan and classical scenes and motifs, Apollo, Mars, Venus, Diana, Mercury, Hercules, Jesus and angels adorn differnt rooms according to their theme.

Here is one of the many statues among the 17th Century Galleries

The decorations on the Room of War, with its counterpart, in the Room of Peace, escorting the Hall of Mirrors on either side.

The History of France Galleries, depicting heroic battles and epic conquests.

The famed Hall of Mirrors. One of the great features of the palace is how much natural lights are are premited. The many windows allowing the sun to shine through unhindered, made the building open and welcoming, exuding a further sense of confidence and dominance in its original royal inhabitants. And many of these windows open the the grand vistas of the greenery beyond.

Here are a few more features that I find to be interesting.

And most of all, I like how the sun light filters into the room, giving it a golden sheen.

As impressive and spectacular the palace is, the fountain gardens are even more amazing if in sheer scale and how intricately it was planned. Each small corner hides its own delight and I have the fortune to arrive when the fountain display was on (they were only on for a few hours daily in summer). While I have been in mazes made of bushes before, these ticket vegetation are at least twice the height of a grown man, providing a most effective partition between the smaller fountains.

This is the Orangerie

Statues along the Water Parterre

The Hall of Mirrors as seen from the Water Parterre (during and after the fountain performances).

The sheer amount of people, both locals and foreign out enjoying the pleasant and well tended gardens.

The Latone Fountain.

The sculptures arranged around the various themed gardens, but especially around the Latone.

The Dragon Fountain.

And the grandest of them all, the Apollo Fountain.

And the palace, as well as the Green Carpet, Latone, and Parterre as seen from the Apollo Fountain.

From the opposite direction, facing the palace and just next to Apollo, is the humongous Grand Canal. The cross shaped pool is 1,500 meters in length and 62 meters in width.

Another personal favorite in Versailles is the Queen's Hamlet. I like how this humble looking village sits tranquilly near an complex of gold and silver, wrought with precious materials. It was just relaxing to watch ducks paddle along on the mirror-like water among the reeds.

This would be the Queen's House, if I'm not mistaken.

The boudoir, with its thriving vegetables.

And another lake over looking the Temple of Love.

Before the palace closes, I managed to visit the Grand Trianon as well, a more private and intimate setting for the original inhabitants. Again, I was captivated by the lights and shadow more than the extravagant furnishing, necessarily.

As I left the grand estate, dragging my overused legs towards the train station, near sunset, I saw another impressive thing - the golden gate.

And ends my visit to a place I would love to revisit, especially in summertime.