I’ve always loved gardens and during our Europe honeymoon a few years back, I remember seeing one of the most memorable gardens I’ve been to. This is the one in Versailles, the vast gardens of Queen Marie Antoinette’s that France’s King Louis XVI supposedly built for her as a gift. It’s within the Palace of Versailles and it’s so big and so lush.

During our weeklong stay in Paris, we allocated one day for our trip to Versailles. I really wanted to visit to see a glimpse of the lives of France’s last royal couple and learn more about the French Revolution. Plus, I’ve always had a thing for castles and palaces so I wanted to see this one. So one morning, we started our day early to catch the train going out of Paris to Versailles. It was just a short and easy ride and in just about an hour we arrived in our destination.

From the train station we walked to the Palace and this is our first glimpse of the whole estate.

The gold gates mark the entrance to the estate.

Inside the estate, before reaching the Palace and the gardens, we passed by this lovely gift shop. I love everything they are selling and their interiors is so pretty and chic too! I wanted it to be the design of our house and I wanted to bring home all these pretty little things!

At the end of the gift shop you’ll get to go out onto the gardens and it was just absolutely breathtaking! It was sprawling as far as the eye can see and it was so perfectly manicured too. It was just so freezing outside that we weren’t able to go around it completely. We had to keep going back inside to warm up a bit. But we enjoyed taking photos at the part in front of the Palace. Everything’s so green but there are no flowers. I wonder if there were areas that had flowers or if it blooms during spring or summer.

Hello Palace and Gardens of Versailles! Feels like home to me lol!

It’s so charmingly pretty it felt like the Sound of Music a little bit.

My husband amidst the sprawling gardens.

Honeymooners in Versailles, 2012.

The gardens end with a lake at the far back.

Designed with trees and patterned lawns.

The Palace

I looooove the golden gates! ❤

Each golden gate bears the image of the sun and is topped with a crown. The sun is the emblem of Louis XVI.

Versailles from the opposite side of the gardens.

After we went around the gardens, we then went inside for the tour of the Palace. Note that there is no actual scheduled tour. You can go along as you please then there are parts that just have viewing intervals of videos about the palace and its history that you can catch anytime. One thing that really struck me about the Palace of Versailles is that it’s really really grand with gold interiors and everything! I read somewhere that Marie Antoinette is known for her very lavish and extravagant ways.

Lectures for students are held in this hall.

Videos of movies shot in and about the Palace are shown.

Movies about Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.

Louis XVI bedchamber.

Marie Antoinette’s bedchamber.

The Queen’s room is bigger and grander with gold all over.

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

Filled with rows and rows of crystal chandeliers!

Crystals and gold.

We ended our tour of Versailles in the early afternoon. We were starving and there were no heavy food in the estate (there’s just Laduree and Angelina and a small cafeteria offering coffee) so we quickly headed out off the estate in the cold to grab late lunch at the nearest restaurant offering Japanese food. The hungry Pinoys in us needed rice haha!

Overall, our visit in Versailles in October was really nice. It wasn’t tiring since it was cold but it kept us from seeing more of the outdoors. They offer rides around the gardens so you can check out the far end of the property but we didn’t do that anymore. Wonder if that side is more beautiful. I’d like to come back and see its beauty during spring or summer. Good thing it’s just accessible from Paris! I also like the design and style of the palace. I like the use of the sun as its icon seen all over the Palace and I like the touches of gold though they might have overdone it haha.

We had a lovely time, Versailles. Someday soon we’ll be back! 🙂

My panoramic shot of the Palace’s facade facing the garden.

The part of the garden I can fit in my frame.