Paris: Chateau De Versailles

Time flew by so fast. That’s exactly in my head when I went through my photos today. It’s been 10 months now and it seems like yesterday when Derick and I traveled Europe. Where did the time go? And how come I only posted a few articles about our Euro trip. My last blog post was Cruising Through The French Countryside which I posted last February. I know I need a lot of catching up to do, before I get drowned with my back-log stories. For now let me give you a glimpse of Chateau de Versailles commonly known as the Palace of Versailles.

Chateau de Versailles was one of my favorite places we’ve visited in Paris. I’m happy we spent our extra day in Paris exploring this magnificent Palace. From the facade you can see how grand it was. The gardens were amazing! Keep scrolling to see why I said so…

By the way, does anyone of you know who is King Louis XIV? How about Marie-Antoinette? If you do, this post might interest you. Although I’m not gonna talk about their life stories (sorry I’m not good in history). Perhaps some of my photos will  give excitement and somehow persuade you to visit and learn more about the people who once lived here. Also I included some tips below on how to manage your time when visiting Versailles during tourist peak season.

We were there last summer. And speaking of summer, expect that tourists are flooding in Paris during this season. The line was totally insane. Like, it took us an hour to get a ticket and another long line before you can enter the Palace. Good thing someone advised us to explore the Garden and the Trianon first then go to the Palace. It’s good because when we finished exploring the garden the line for the Palace visitors was already short. But still we didn’t avoid the crowd. People were all over the place. It was really difficult to get a decent photo without someone photo bombing you. Believe me I did a lot of editing on my photos, chopping heads off to produce a blog worthy pictures. Hahaha.

The Garden

The sprawling garden is absolutely a stunner. From fabulous water fountains, gardens filled with roses, hedges, numerous statues and down to the lake were truly breathtaking.

Given the time, I would definitely spend hours in this area. Have picnic under the trees, lazing around, read a book or perhaps rent one of these canoes and enjoy paddling around the lake. I wish time isn’t an issue when we were there.

Trianon Palaces and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate

The Grand Trianon

Le Grand Trianon

Le Petit Trianon was a gift of King Louis XVI to his wife Marie-Antoinette. Wherein she can freely enjoy her privacy and escape from her Queenly duties in the Palace.

The Palace

The Chapel

The Hall of Mirrors

Some pieces of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s Bedchamber

Tips when visiting Chateau de Versailles during Summer:

• Come early if you don’t have a ticket. Believe me, getting tickets alone will cost time.
• Purchase Paris Pass if you want to beat the crowd. Paris Pass has express entry pass to skip the long queue. Check their website to know what are the benefits of Paris Pass.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Yes Chateau de Versailles is huge and it requires a lot of walking. If you don’t want to pay extra buck for a golf cart rental, make sure you’re ready to walk.
• Bring your own food and water. If I remember correctly there are only two restaurant inside and it was jam-packed during lunch time. Again if you don’t want to waste your time waiting to get a table, might as well bring your own food. Although there were few kiosk that sells sandwiches and beverages, it’s a little bit pricey though. In our case we bought a takeaway meals from McDonald’s and brought it inside. We’re like having a picnic at the garden of the famous Palace in Paris. Haha. Isn’t it romantic?
• Visit the Garden and Trianon first. If you notice a long line of tourists going to the main Palace, don’t waste your time there. Instead visit the Garden and the Trianon first. You can come back in the afternoon at around 2:00 pm by then the crown has already subsided. The Palace is open every day, except Mondays, from 9 am to 6.30 pm during the high season (April to October) and from 9 am to 5.30 pm during the low season (November to March).
• Bring extra batteries or power banks for mobile phones and cameras.
• Enjoy! I don’t need to elaborate, Chateau de Versailles is a beautiful place. Take your time.