Soleil Chez le Roi Soleil

Looking regal at gates of Versailles

Last Thursday, we went to the Chateau de Versailles. We had to get to the Lycée at 8:45am so that we could be on time for our appointment. Since Versailles is not in Paris, we had to take the metro to the RER, a train that travels longer distances and is mostly above ground, to get to the château. When we arrived we were given a tour of the interior. Some of the things we saw included the bedrooms of Louis XV and Marie Antoinette. Everything in the palace was extravagantly decorated with what used to be solid gold. After the tour, we were given 2.5 hours to walk through les jardins. --Melissa

The visit to the Chateau de Versailles was resplendent with the incredibly restored, gilded rooms and the private guided tour of the private apartments of Louis XIV, XV, land XVI!  We were fortunate to have very informed guides who spoke in clear French about the daily lives of the French kings and their families.  We learned about that the kings lived their lives in public, with rituals of waking up, dressing, eating, and going to bed, attended by their ministers and sometimes over a hundred people.  Versailles, constructed over periods that spanned several generations, was a way to consolidate powerful aristocrats and keep them in a gilded prison, under the eyes of the king to keep them under control.  We strolled in the gardens for a beautiful afternoon of free time, where everyone had a moment to imagine themselves as residents of the fabulous palace.  In the Hall of Mirrors, “La Gallerie de Glaces,” we felt the light, and were also told that gilt and mirrors were there to reflect light and bring that brilliant reflection to the thousands of expensive candles that illuminated the palace.---Mme. Hume