Versailles

By far the best weather day we've had since arriving in France, so we drove down to Versailles on Saturday, only about an hour away from Rouen.

Versailles used to be Louis XIII's hunting lodge. His son, Louis XIV transformed and enlarged it, installing his court and government here.

The Palace chapel, or Chapelle Royale, completed by Louis XIV in 1710. It is the tallest room in the entire Palace. This is the view from the King's box. The murals on the ceiling depict Apollo, the sun god. Interesting mix of Catholicism and greek mythology.

Listening to the audioguide in the Peace Room. We highly recommend the use of audioguides, especially if you don't read French and really don't know much about French art/artists/art history/furniture. We also saw the state apartments for the King, Queen and Prince (heir to the throne), Opera House, TONS of war paintings, sculptures of famous French people and lots of paintings of former kings, queens, their family members and animals.

We're standing in the middle of the garden, or Parc, behind the Palace. Versailles used to cover an area of 7,800 hectares (19,274 acres) and was surrounded by a 43 kilometer (26.7 mile) wall. Today, it is only about 800 hectares (1,977 acres).

A view of the Fountain of Latona. You can see the beginning of the Grand Canal in the background.

Standing alongside the Grand Canal. You can see the Palace way in the back. From the Palace to the top of the Grand Canal is 1 km. We saw a bunch of people rowing in the canal, including a high school crew team. It was very odd, they didn't seem too impressed to be rowing in Versailles. Practice as usual.

In the gardens behind the Petit Trianon, more than a mile from the Palace, but still in the Parc. Louis XVI gave this small estate to Marie Antoinette. Years later, she built a make believe Norman village nearby, with thatched roofed houses, a dairy, fishery, barn, mill and farm, so that she could enjoy the simple life and live a normal life away from the Palace.