Living in the west of Paris means the most beautiful chateau in the world is only 15 minutes from my doorstop. I didn’t include it on my list of great day trips from Paris because it’s really just a suburb of Paris. You can easily visit Versailles for lunch or afternoon tea or just to wander around the stunning chateau gardens (for free!). Of course if you want to visit inside the chateau and see where Louis XIV and his successors slept then you would probably want to allow for a full day to visit and push your way through the crowds.
Crowds are not my thing so on my most recent trip I stuck to exploring the town and relaxing in the palace gardens. I also got to test out my new 135mm camera lens which I’m very, very happy with.
The royals obviously weren’t shy about using gold. It’s everywhere!
Looking down towards the main boulevard past the weird modern art sculpture.
I think I prefer the original decorative features like this water spout.
More gold.
The formal garden as seen through my 135mm lens. I will have to remember to take a wider lens next time.
Flowers and tourists:
More modern art can be found throughout the gardens.
The chapel missed out on the gold touch.
This trip to Versailles was also the first time I got to take my new baby out for a spin. She loved Versailles!
About Andrea
May I disagree with the title and rename it the tackiest castle in the world?
(that being said, the gardens are totally worth a trip, as well as both Trianons and Marie-Antoinette’s “farm”.
Really? You don’t like Versailles? Which castle gets your vote for the most beautiful? At least tell me you think the car is cute!
Yes, I really don’t like Versailles. I think it’s horrible, ugly and the epitome of bad taste (although it symbolizes perfectly what was wrong with Monarchy in France and why the Revolution happened).
What castle do I advise?
My favorites are the medieval castles from anywhere in France, especially the South West, but really I could say any castle but Versailles (although I’m not really a big fan of the other castles I’ve seen in the Paris area either).
I love just about all the castles I come across but maybe that’s because I come from a place where there aren’t any or at least not many
Yes that would explain a lot.
(I have to admit that I’m always very amused by Americans and Australians reactions when they find out that a building/church/castle is about 400, 500 or sometimes 1000 years old.