Versailles Palace - Marie-Antoinette's estate @ Versailles, France

Marie-Antoinette's estate is the heaven of privacy that enabled her to escape from the rigours of court etiquette. Nobody could come there without her invitation. Louis XVI’s wife loved this place where she could return to the pleasures of simple, rural pursuits, away from the pomp of Versailles. Its quite tired to walk from Versailles to the estate. You need to walk at around 30 minutes to reach there from the main palace building.


Grand Trianon. Smaller scale when compared to the glory of Versailles.

Grand Trianon.


First floor.

Unique looking table.

Corridors of Grand Trianon.

First floor reception room.

Another reception room.

Bedchamber.

The Queen’s Hamlet.

Almost similar like sakura.

Coordinate/GPS: 48.804744,2.121774
Transport: RER route C5 stop at Versailles-Rive Gauche station. The train ticket cost Euro 6.80 return (May 2012), and you need at least a zone 4 ticket if you have day or weekly pass. Do make sure you take the correct train as there are many location which have almost similar name such as Versailles-Chantiers.
Admission fees: I would recommend to take the one day passport for Euro 18 for monday to friday and Euro 25 from Saturday to Sunday. On the weekend, they have a special fountain show.

Versailles Palace - The gardens @ Versailles, France

Walking at normal pace, you will need at least two hours to walk around the Versailles palace main builidng. But outside the palace, you will need more time. I would recommend at least 3 hours for the gardens. Unlike the main building, the garden area is very huge. The entrance to the garden area is free.


Now you know what I mean. Colourful and beautiful.

You can see that this garden is huge.

The Orangerie. Consisting of six sections of lawn and a circular pool, in the summer it features 1,055 trees in boxes, including palm trees, oleanders, pomegranate trees, eugenias and orange trees that spend the winter inside the building.

Another angle of Orangerie.

Versailles main building from garden.

The trees are nicely cut and shaped.

The Grand Canal, 1,670 metres long, was the setting for numerous nautical spectacles and many types of craft were sailed on it.

Sculptures along the walks.

On the way to The Grand Trianon.

Nice trees path.

The sun vase. The vases, some of them copied from ancient Roman models, sometimes commemorate a more recent event.



Bronze sculptures. I am not sure what is the meaning behind these sculpture.

I am wondering how they cut these trees.

Coordinate/GPS: 48.804744,2.121774
Transport: RER route C5 stop at Versailles-Rive Gauche station. The train ticket cost Euro 6.80 return (May 2012), and you need at least a zone 4 ticket if you have day or weekly pass. Do make sure you take the correct train as there are many location which have almost similar name such as Versailles-Chantiers.
Admission fees: I would recommend to take the one day passport for Euro 18 for monday to friday and Euro 25 from Saturday to Sunday. On the weekend, they have a special fountain show.

Versailles Palace - Main building @ Versailles, France

Versailles Palace which is known in French as Château de Versailles. France's most exquisite chateau. Home to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It is located around 30km from Paris can be easily reach via RER train route C5. The palace which is one of UNESCO world heritage is a impressive complex with huge palace building and amazing gardens. Do make sure that you come early and spend the whole day here. Its a day trip well spent. The palace architecture and the interior design is amazing as it was built in the 17th century. This is a royal palace during the 17th century and as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy. It is also a trigger point of the famous French revolution.

The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it more beautiful.


Louis XIV sculpture at the entrance. He is the first king to move into Versailles from Lourve Palace. The background is the Versailles palace.

The main gate.

I reached there around 11am and the queue is quite long. Do make sure to come early. To speed up, do make sure you book the ticket online before arriving there. By purchasing your ticket online, you save some time from queuing up at machine to purchase ticket.

Finally got my ticket. The Euro 18 ticket give you access to whole palace.

Main palace building.


Lets see what inside.



The painting on the ceiling is beautiful and the marble is so solid.

This royal room is impressive.

Painting of Marie Antoinette. Queen of France.






Hall of Mirrors. This is one of the most famous rooms in the world. The principal feature of this famous hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. And its always crowded. The garden especially The Orangerie is beautiful.

From the palace look towards the garden.

One of the bedrooms.

Very nice architecture.

Another royal bedroom.

Dining room.

Napoleon Bonaparte.

Another section of the main building palace.

Coordinate/GPS: 48.804744,2.121774
Transport: RER route C5 stop at Versailles-Rive Gauche station. The train ticket cost Euro 6.80 return (May 2012), and you need at least a zone 4 ticket if you have day or weekly pass. Do make sure you take the correct train as there are many location which have almost similar name such as Versailles-Chantiers.
Admission fees: I would recommend to take the one day passport for Euro 18 for monday to friday and Euro 25 from Saturday to Sunday. On the weekend, they have a special fountain show.