Paris | the Palace of Versailles
"Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction,whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments." -Plato
The Palace of Versailles is just right outside of Paris. It's a short train ride out. Like the Louvre and the other tourist attractions in Paris, the Palace of Versailles was quite crowded. Within the palace there's actually very little room for tourists to wander. The parts of the palace accessible to the general public could be described as what cattle feel like when they're herded into a very small room to get butchered. We were sardines. At times the other tourists and I were smashed up against each other and not even moving. It was quite frustrating and scary and uncomfortable and odd... odd because most invariably we would be stuck because of some tour group or inconsiderate person in front of everyone just standing there blocking the walkways and exits.
Sidenote: I really would not suggest visiting Paris in December. Supposedly it's the "off-season", but what they don't tell you is everyone in France is visiting Paris at that time in addition to all the random Americans on holiday. The lines to get into places were hours long.
Anyway I was really excited to explore the Palace of Versailles. The actually building and artifacts weren't the most impressive compared to other places in Europe that I've visited, but the sure volume and history of it was fascinating. It's amazing to me that this palace has stayed mostly in tact through the French Revolution and both World Wars. The fact nobody plundered this palace despite hating Marie Antoinette for life of extravagance is beyond me.
As I walked around I wondered what it'd be like to live during that day. The only things I remember was that King Louis XIV was the first to live here, and that one of the King Louis' was so stinky (he didn't like to bathe and supposed refused to let anyone else) that they used perfume to curb the stench. So I wondered if it was very smelly at Versailles.
The gardens were magnificent. I was actually more in awe of these than the actual palace.
