Palace of Versailles

The story of Versailles begins not with grandeur but with marshland. Louis XIII, who loved hunting in the Île-de-France forests, built a small brick hunting lodge here in 1623. His son Louis XIV inherited this retreat and, in 1661, made the decision that would change architectural history: he would build a palace of a scale never seen before, and he would move the entire French court there.

The construction lasted over fifty years, involving tens of thousands of workers and consuming a significant portion of France's annual tax revenues. The architects Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Louis Le Vau expanded the lodge into the vast complex that stands today, while landscape architect André Le Nôtre reimagined the surrounding marshland as the most geometrically perfect gardens ever created — a landscape that declared, visually and philosophically, that nature itself was subject to French royal will.

Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles in 1682. The move was strategic: by requiring the most powerful nobles to live at court, dependent on royal patronage, Louis neutralised the threat of aristocratic rebellion that had convulsed France during his childhood. Versailles became a gilded cage where the nobility competed for the honour of watching the king dress, competed for apartments closer to his chambers, competed for his attention — and had no time to plot against him.

The palace remained the seat of French royal government for over a century. Louis XV added the Petit Trianon; Marie Antoinette created her famous Hameau de la Reine, a fantasy farm village in the grounds. In October 1789, a mob of Parisian women marched to Versailles demanding bread and dragged the royal family back to Paris. The Revolution had begun, and Versailles was abandoned.

Napoleon used the palace sporadically. It fell into disrepair until King Louis-Philippe converted it into a museum of French history in 1837, the purpose it still partly serves today. Restoration has been ongoing ever since — the Hall of Mirrors itself was restored between 2004 and 2007.

Getting there from Paris: Take RER C train from any central Paris station (Invalides, Saint-Michel, Austerlitz) to Versailles Château Rive Gauche — the journey takes 35–40 minutes and runs every 15 minutes. The station is a 10-minute walk from the palace entrance. Alternatively, train from Paris Montparnasse to Versailles Chantiers (25 min). Avoid driving — parking is chaotic and expensive.

Booking: Book online well in advance, especially for summer weekends. The timed-entry ticket includes the Palace and gardens. The Passport gives access to all areas including the Trianons and the Estate of Marie Antoinette — worth it if you're spending a full day.

Strategy for avoiding crowds: Arrive at opening time on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The Hall of Mirrors gets impossibly crowded by 11am in summer. Go there first, before the tour groups arrive. The Trianon palaces (15 min walk from the main palace) are far less crowded and contain some of the finest 18th-century interiors in France.

Don't miss: The Grandes Eaux Musicales — on weekends from April to October, the fountains are set to music by Baroque composers in spectacular choreographed sequences (separate ticket, €10). The Musical Gardens runs Tuesday to Friday. The grotto of Thetis (reconstruction) and the Apollo Basin are highlights. The hamlet of Marie Antoinette is a 20-minute walk — strange, melancholy, and completely unlike the formal grandeur of the main palace.