Versailles

The palace of Vesailles is something everyone should see when you go to France. Not only is it gorgeous and impressive, it has so much culture and history that should not be overlooked. The Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I, was being renovated while I was there, but we did get to see the King’s bedchamber and the gardens.

Louis XIV, nicknamed the Sun King, had the palace built and dedicated to him, so there is a statue of him on a horse and also a clock that resembles a sun at the front. We walked around the gardens, which stretch as far as the eye can see from the back of the palace, and the grand apartments and Parliament Museum.

The gardens are perfectly symmetrical, and there are statues and fountains lining the unnaturally straight bushes. There was way too much to see in just a short time, but I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of space and number of rooms for just one king’s expensive taste.