 The statue of Louis XIV at Versailles by sim1 | Versailles tips and photos posted by real travelers and Paris locals. • 113 Photos
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 by Sandi-2004
To give you an idea of the size of the place, here are some facts from the web site:
800 hectares (2,000 acres) of grounds
20 kilometres (12 miles) of roads
200,000 trees
50 fountains
11 hectares (26 acres) of roof
51,210 square meters of floors
700 rooms
6,000 paintings Leave a Comment
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 Getting to Versailles by sim1
Versailles
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Getting to Versailles
Versailles is just outside of Paris. Here is how you can get to Versailles from Paris :
By car:
Take the Motorway A13 (direction Rouen), exit Versailles-Château to get to Versailles.
I went by car from Paris to Versailles and had no troubles in getting there. Just outside the Palace there is a huge parking lot (place d'Armes) where you can park your car (payed parking) and walk to the Palace.
By train :
RER ligne C direction Versailles-rive-gauche-château
from Montparnasse station train SNCF direction Versailles-Chantiers
from Saint-Lazare station train SNCF direction Versailles-rive-droite
By bus :
from Pont de Sèvres ligne 171 de la RATP direction Versailles-place d'Armes Leave a Comment
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The first time I visited Paris at my own, I stayed at the campsite in Versailles. Actually the visit to the Chateau de Versailles and especially its gardens were my priority.
I was a student landscape-architecture and had learned allready every detail of the gardens of Versailles during the lessons of history of gardenarchitecture.
Finally to see the enormous complex with my own eyes was an overwhelming experience. I walked around for a full day to get a overview and I realised it was not enough to see all the details.
I came back 30 years later and was surprised about the crowds visiting Versailles nowadays. Leave a Comment
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Though I came to Versailles in the first place for its gardens, I visited af course also the Chateau de Versailles. In the 17th century Louis XIV decided to turn the hunting lodge of his father in Versailles into a palace. This palace had to be big enough for the around 600 peopel of the court.
One of the highlights of the palace is the spectacular 70M long Galerie de Glaces, Hall of mirrors. This hall, where in 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed, meaning the end of World War I, has 17 huge mirrors at one side and 17 windows at the other side looking to the gardens. Leave a Comment
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The Park of Versailles is designed in the formal French style with geometrical forms. From the palace to the west you have a great view at the 1,6KM long Gran Canal. This canal is oriented to the west to reflect the sunset. In the mainly geometrical gardens you find colourful flowerbeds, ponds and a lot of fountains and many statues of marble and bronze.
Within its borders the Park of Versailles has also an English style garden, the ''Jardins de Petit Trianon'' with bending paths and a more pastoral character. These gardens are situated nort of the Grand Canal around the two smaller palaces the Grand and Petit Trianon.
I liked to see the contrasts in those two different styles of garden design. Leave a Comment
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 'Fountain of the Evening' by sim1
Versailles
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'Fountain of the Evening'
Before you go down the stairs towards the basin and fountain of Latona, you should take a right turn. This will bring you to the 'Fountain of the Evening'. I really enjoyed seeing the sculptures here, and in the picture you can see one of them.
This sculpture is called 'Air' and it is made by Etienne Hongre (1628-1690), who also made the sculpture 'The Marne' at the 'Water Parterre' that I mentioned in an earlier tip. Leave a Comment
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 Versailles by sim1
Versailles
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'Group of Children' at the Water Parterre
As mentioned in the previous tip, this is a close-up of one of the 'group of children' at the Water Parterre. These statues at the 'Water Parterre' were a project of Balthazar Keller (1638-1702) with together with several artists. Leave a Comment
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 Basins and fountains in the
garden of Versailles by sim1
Versailles
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Basins and fountains
The last part of this page will be about the basins and fountains in the gardens of Versailles. I've added a map of this part of the garden so you will know which are I will be talking about. A map like this is great when you walk through the garden because it gives you some idea where you are and what you are looking at. My guidebook provided one of these maps which was very useful.
1 - Basin of Apollo
2 - Basin of Latone
3 - Basin of Neptune
4 - Water mirror
5 - Basin of the Obelisk
6 - Basin of Flora (Spring)
7 - Basin of Cérès (the Summer)
8 - Basin of Bacchus (the Autumn)
9 - Saturn basin (the Winter)
10 - Basin of the Dragon
11 - Basins of the Crowns
12 - Pyramid
13 - Basin of the Island of the Children
14 - Basins of the Lizards
15 - Fountain of the Point of the Day
16 - The Fountain of the Evening
17 - Basin of the South
18 - Basin of North
19 - Basin of Encelade
20 - Basin of the Orangery
21 - Large Channel Leave a Comment
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 Flowers in Versailles by sim1
Versailles
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Flowers in Versailles
I visited Versailles in May and the garden wasn't in its full glory yet. But some of the flowerbeds were already in full bloom and looked lovely. There was a lot of work going on in parts of the garden when I visited and these areas were closed to the public. But the garden is so huge that there is still plenty to see and enjoy! Leave a Comment
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The statue of Louis XIV at
Versailles by sim1
Versailles
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History of Versailles
Before I start showing you the chambers and the garden I would like to tell you something about the history of Versailles :
Louis XIII had a hunting lodge and garden built here in the 1630’s, but the one mainly responsible for the creation of Versailles was Louise XIV (the Sun King). In 1664 the construction of the château began and it lasted until Louis XlV's died in 1715. After his death the château was abandoned for a few years, but in 1722 Louis XV moved in. Versailles remained the residence of the royal family until the Revolution of 1789. The furniture was sold and the pictures dispatched to the Louvre. Thereafter it fell into ruin and was nearly demolished by Louis- Philippe.
In 1871, during the Paris Commune, Versailles became the seat of the nationalist government, and the French parliament continued to meet in Louis XV's opera building until 1879. The restoration only began between the two world wars. Leave a Comment
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