[FRANCE] Paris Museum Pass Day - A Guide to Palace of Versailles

15:33 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Regardless of whether Marie Antoinette, queen of France during the French Revolution, really said "Let them eat cake." when being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread, the Palace of Versailles has swayed the public imagination for decades due to its sheer opulence and architectural grandeur. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for the past 30 years and it definitely warrants a visit while in France. 

Getting there:

RER line C: arrives at Versailles Château - Rive Gauche (link is external) train station, just 10 minutes’ walk to the Palace.
SNCF trains from Gare Montparnasse arrive at Versailles Chantiers train station (link is external), which is 18 minutes on foot to the Palace.
SNCF trains from Gare Saint Lazare arrive at Versailles Rive Droite train station (link is external), 17 minutes on foot to the Palace.

The train ride took about 1 hour to reach.

After I arrived at Versailles Chantiers train station, I just followed the crowd walking towards Palace of Versailles. Picture above is the statue of King Louis XIV in front of Palace of Versailles.

The elaborate golden gate of Versailles was finally in sight after walking for about 20 minutes from the train station.

I arrived at Versailles around 9am when it opened to avoid the long queue entering the palace. Even so, the palace was crowded with tourist. Picture above is taken after I have visited the palace. Look at the queue to enter the palace. 

* Please note that due to the current health situation, reservation with timed entry is mandatory for all to access the Palace. 

The Honour Gate is the main entrance to the estate. The first courtyard visitors will enter is the Honour Court, followed by the Royal Court and lastly the Marble Court.

The Marble Court is known for its distinctive black and white marble tiles that adorn the terrace floor.

See the overall map of Versailles above for the indicative location of places (click to see enlarged map). Entrance A is for individual visitors and Entrance B is for group visitors.

Here's a brief history and background of Versailles:

Versailles was originally used as a hunting lodge by King Louis XII. It was his successor, King Louis XIV who transformed and extended Versailles when he made Versailles the principal royal residence of France from 1682 until the start of French Revolution.

King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, ruled France for 72 years. It is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. The growing anger in Paris due to chronic shortage and price inflation led to the Women's March on Versailles on 5 October 1789. The crowd besieged the palace and compelled the King and Royal family to leave Versailles for Paris. They never returned to the palace. 

The Royal Chapel.

The Crusades Room tell the story of eight main crusades between the end of 11th century to the end of 13th century.

The King's State Apartment consists of seven rooms including Salon of Hercules, Salon of Abundance, Salon of Venus, Salon of Mercury, Salon of Mars, Salon of Apollo and Salon of Diana. Photo above is the ceiling of Salon of Hercules.

Salon of Mercury.

The Hall of Mirrors is flanked on opposite ends by the Salon of War and Salon of Peace.

The Salon of War commemorates the victorious campaign of Louis XIV against the Dutch, which ended in 1678.

The Hall of Mirrors is the most famous room in the palace. As you can see, the hall is packed with people at every corner. It took the place of the rooftop terrace overlooking the gardens which formerly connected the apartments of the King and Queen. It is decorated with large glass chandeliers hanging down from the ornately painted ceiling and gilded statues lining the hall on both sides. The Treaty of Versailles was signed here on 28 June 1919, ending the First World War. 

The Salon of Peace is decorated to illustrate the role of France as the arbiter and peacemaker of Europe under Louis XV.

Chamber de la Reine served as the chamber of three queen of France including Marie Antoinette.

The Gallery of Great Battles covers almost the entire first floor of the South Wing of the Palace. The 33 paintings in the gallery depicts the greatest battles that had influenced the history of France. It was created by Louis-Philippe who was dubbed as the "citizen king". He was also the one who made the decision to transform Versailles in to a historical museum devoted to "All the Glories of France". 

The estate of Versailles spreads over 800 hectares. The garden was planned by Andre Le Notre, a famous French landscape architect. It took him 40 years to complete the garden. 

This is the Fountain of Latona. According to the story, when the peasants of Lycia insulted Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana, the god Jupiter transformed the peasants into frogs.

Fountain of Apollo. Beyond the fountain is the Grand Canal which extends 1800 meters to the south end of the park. 

The garden of Versailles contained 15 grooves under the reign of Louis XIV. However, some of the groves deteriorated rapidly, as they were costly and difficult to maintain, and disappeared in the 18th century.

The Orangerie garden is my favourite part of the garden. Unfortunately, it wasn't open to public. Over 1,000 citrus trees, palms and other tender plants were planted here. These tender plants are housed inside the walls during the winter and taken out during summer.

It would require one full day at least if you wish to see the palace and the garden of Versailles, but since I have limited time in Paris, I only managed to stay half day. 

I also didn't have time to visit the Estate of Trianon which is located about a mile to the northwest of the palace. King Louis XVI built himself the Grand Trianon, a more modest palace, as a private retreat. Only he and those invited could visit the Grand Trianon.

Near the Grand Trianon, Marie Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI, created an estate for herself and took over a building called the "Petit Trianon", in order to escape the many watchful eyes.

Took a train back to Paris in the afternoon from Versailles Château - Rive Gauche train station. This marks the end of my visit to Versailles.  

Palace of Versailles
Admission ticket (2020):
Palace and Gardens (without musical fountain): € 20.00
Palace and Gardens (with musical fountain): € 27.00
Palace only : € 18.00
Estate of Trianon: € 12.00

Opening hours:
9:00 am - 5:30 pm (Nov-Mar)
9:00 am - 6:30 pm (Apr-Oct)
Closed on Mondays

Website: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/