Welcome to my summer cottage.

Welcome to my summer cottage.

This is only part of the ginormous grounds at Versailles. The water at the far end is the Grand Canal.

This is only part of the ginormous grounds at Versailles. The water at the far end is the Grand Canal.

yen versus france 2008

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Day 23

Dear Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette,

I would've come after your heads, too. My god, your home in Versailles is ridiculous enough, but the gardens and grounds must have had more than one postal code. When you sent your children to play in the yard, did you pack an overnight bag for them, too? Did you have houseguests and never even knew they were in the house?

Seriously, I'll stop talking to dead royalty now. The chateau is impressively large, but it's not furnished as well as I would've liked. It was almost bare, in comparison to the scale of the rooms. But the fact that there are two other chateaus (Grand and Petit Trianons) and a farm on the grounds makes me all impressed again. Yes, that's what I said, a farm.



It's really the gardens that I enjoyed the most. They're so well cared for and there are so many, many trees and flowers and grass and green things. There are fountains everywhere and at certain times during the weekends, the water is turned on for a 20-minute session.



The water doesn't dance (like in Vegas), but taken all together, it's quite spectacular. There seemed to be parts of the grounds that are free so families can come and enjoy a day at Versailles without spending anything. It essentially is a beautiful park and I would return just to walk around the gardens and fountains again.

The whole place really is ginormous, though, so use the trolley that goes around the grounds or rent a golf cart and try not to drive it into the lake. Or go ahead and try, I don't care.