please empty your brain below

You still did a lot better than my friend and I, and we didn't have to race back to London! Having agreed to do the State Rooms first, so as to not have to rush the gardens (which, I will admit, were what I was really looking forward to) I was just a little bit irritated to find them closed for an event upon eventually leaving the building.

It is therefore interesting to see that a day trip is theoretically possible, so I might give it another shot, perhaps just for the gardens this time.
Un très bon article merci DG.
DG your first paragraph sums it up very well, Versailles is like nothing else in Europe for sheer grandeur.

The gardens are of course better seen in summer, but you do have problem then of massive crowds.
Nice report. Versailles is just down the road for me and the gardens are nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. The stables and equine performances across the road are very well worth seeing too.
I enjoyed your description, and am glad to learn that (presumably) yesterday was not so hectic. But the magnificent pictures well justify a look two days running.

I also get great pleasure in knowing that a day trip to Versailles is possible. Even though I will probably never do it (I have seen Versailles with different arrangements), I enjoy thinking that I could.
Next time anyone is in the area of Berlin/Potsdam try a visit to the Sanssouci, the former summer palace of the Prussian Kings, Well worth a visit.
Thanks

"nowhere is the illusion shattered by a café, ice cream kiosk or tacky gift shop as would be the case in the UK"

You do mention Hampton Court which when I last checked had none of the above, the Tiltyard café being tucked away.
Not even cake to eat?
Wow.

Thanks for an interesting write-up and some truly amazing photos.

Only the other day I watched the National Theatre of Brent's "Revolution!" on Youtube. Marie Antoinette and her little hameau, and all that.
For those not treating Versailles as a day trip it is worth investigating the concerts in the Chapelle Royale and performances of opera in the court theatre - I've been to a few and very much enjoyed the performances, but also the transgressive delight of wandering through gloomy, closed salons en route to the theatre. The performances focus mainly on music created for the court at Versailles which isn't often performed elsewhere.










TridentScan | Privacy Policy