Versailles

The chateau: A casual history (paraphrased from our tour guide)

Louis XIV hated Paris. This was probably because of the angry mob that attacked the Louvre when he was a child. And who can blame him? Angry Parisians are pretty freaking scary one on one. De plus, in what sounds like the plot of the latest Keira Knightley movie, nobles (even members of his own family!) were spending the long, electricity-less hours in their far-flung chateaux plotting to overthrow first his dad and then Cardinal Mazalan, Louis' regent after he was crowned at the ripe old age of five. So once Louis had finished puberty was deemed ready to reign, he packed up the court, sent some invitations to his dear, sweet nobles, which if read between the lines, said "Get over here and keep your hands where I can see 'em" (kind of gives a new perspective on the Hall of Mirrors, no?) And that's how everybody who was anybody relocated to Versailles, where they would live out their days fighting over who got to watch him get dressed in the morning.

Louis' great-grandson, Louis XV was very handsome, but kind of shy, and though he was the bien-aimé when he came to power, by the end of his reign he was hated. It didn't help the Bourbons' case that his successor, Louis XVI, was the royal equivalent of that awkward kid who's really smart but can't make eye contact with people and spends all his free time on antisocial hobbies. (In his case, watchmaking and locks, since this was before Magic cards and WoW). He was married to Marie Antoinette, who was a little too social. They were also like 18 when they came to power. If their coronation happened today, he would pick at his acne nervously and she would text the whole time. We all know how that story ends.

During the Revolution, villagers (Versailles is also the name of the surrounding town) defended the palace. Afterward, the various Republican regimes sold off the furniture to foreigners, and all indications of the Bourbons (i.e. suns with Louis' face in them) were removed. Various suggestions were raised for what to do with the gigantic symbol of monarchical decadence and abuse of power. These included turning into a military hospital or a factory. It was Charles X (I think) who saved it by deciding to turn the space into a museum. He only got to renovate a small part of the compound before the regime changed once again.

The French government now spends the majority of it's historical monument budget maintaining Versailles and the Louvre (la tradition = 1, le républicanisme = O). The chateau remains sparsely furnished, and many of the ornate picture frames are filled with black and white photocopies of the paintings that used to hang in them, but pieces are slowly making their way back in, and many of the frescoes (like in the chapel) and moldings have been restored perfectly.
Highlights included Louis XIV's desk, which was absolutely stunning and filled with secret drawers; the queen's bed, special occasion tableware, and a library where every inch of wallspace is covered in books and French literary geniuses look down on you while you study.

This is a door.

It took about ten years of Baroque architects, sculptors, and artists working on the chateau before Louis XIV deemed it fit for a king, and everywhere you look, inside and out, is beautiful. My camera seems to get overwhelmed in the presence of stained glass and goldleaf, so I haven't done the building justice here, but it is truly breathtaking. It's definitely the most important daytrip from Paris.