Versailles

Today we visited the Palace of Versailles and it's gardens which is the most complete achievement of French fine art from the 17th century. In 1661 Louis XIV undertook the enlargement of the original chateau. The palace was embellished in the 18th century. The monarchy left after the days of the French revaluation and in 1837 king Louis-Philippe opened the palace as a museum.

We saw the kings and queens state apartments, the ceilings amazing paintings. The hall of mirrors with it's magnificent view of the gardens. The bulls eye salon, council study, drawing rooms and salon des Nobles where all greatly adorned. We spent most of our time in the gallery of the battles of France. You know from seeing it on movies that this place is big but until you see it yourself you just don't know the magnitude of how big. No wonder the people of France chopped of the heads of the monarchy.

The formal French gardens where laid out by Andre Le Notre from 1661 and the parterres, groves, statues, fountains and pools are just magnificent.

We caught the petit train and first visited the Queens Hamlet which Marie Antoinette built. It is an English style park with follies and hamlet. We then went to the Petit Trianon which was a place for the private use of Louis XV and Madame De Pompadour. It was given to Marie Antoinette by Louis XVI and it became her favorite place. From here we went to the Grand Trianon which was constructed in 1687 in neoclassical style as a recreational residence for Louis XIV.

We finished the day at the Grand Canal Which is just magnificent. We took the money shots of the palace and canal and decided it's time for an ice-cream. By the end of the 6 hours we are stuffed so we head back to the B&B which is about and hour away for a rest before dinner. And it was Another sucsessful eraser day.

We went for dinner at resturant Cote Marine in Vernon which is on the river Sien and over looks the old mill Vieux Moulin and what is left of the chateau des Tourelles on the other side of the river. It was very nice and we had the set 3 course menu again. We went for a stroll after dinner in the medieval part of town and checked out the moulin and chateau on the way home.