The Palace of Versailles

I'm going to take you outside of Paris now, to one of the "suburbs."  Versailles (pronounced Ver-sigh) was once just a small village, way back when, but then something radical happened and changed it to a focal point of France.

King Louis XIV happened. Now, in Versailles, there had been a hunting cottage used by the kings of France.  Louis XIV decided it just wasn't good enough--wasn't grand enough. And so in 1661, he began to build the Palace of Versailles where the hunting cottage once stood.  And this is what he created.

Yeah, that place is massive! And get this--it was only his summer home!! It held over 20,000 people...can you imagine having that many people in your house at one time?

And as it goes with kings, they have to go over the top. Do you see that gate? Yes, that gate has gold on it! I'd love to have a golden gate in front of my house!

The extreme grandness of the Palace of Versailles is something I will explore with you through the rest of this week. I will also describe the history behind the Palace and what major French events happened in or near Versailles.

Here are just a few more shots of the Palace. And all the places I am going to show you pictures of were only one small wing of this place. (Side note:  can you imagine having to wash all those windows? Can't have dirty windows for the king!)