The Chateau of Versailles

 On Sunday we went to Versailles.  I guess everyone else in Paris had the same idea because it was packed this day!  Here is a look walking up to the main gates.

 Here is the front of the Chateau.  The gold plated roofing was unreal!  I can't imagine the amount of money it took to build this and then plate it in gold.  King Louis XIV wanted to make it look super powerful on the front but, as you go around the back there is no more gold and it's more modest.

 They had their own Chapel.  This is the called Chapelle Royale.  The Royal family would just walk down the stairs to go to church.

 Hallways and windows in the Palace.

 This portrait was a gift given to the king and he had this room built just to house this painting.

 The king would sit on this bed type throne and the peasants would come to make pleas or ask things of the king.  The peasants had to follow strict proper rules or they would be thrown out of the Palace.

 The Hall of Mirrors was beautiful and this is where the King and Queen would hold balls and other parities in this hall.  This is also where The Treaty of Versailles was signed which ended World War I.

 King Louis bedroom.  This is also the room that he and Marie Antoinette were hiding when the people stormed the castle and took the Royal Family.  The king was beheaded and then later the Queen was also beheaded.

 The Queens bedroom.  The Royal family was always on display and there was no privacy.  When the queen would give birth they would let the public come to watch in this room.  This room faced the main courtyard and the public could come and watch her.  People would watch them eat and go to the bathroom.  I really felt for Marie Antoinette who hated this life.  She built her own little getaway on Versailles.  The getaway was farm where she could be a normal person and not be watched.

 Their harpsichord

 The main gates made out of pure Gold.

The clock on top of the Chateau.  The Chateau is massive and was living quarters at one time to 20,000 people.  Government offices were in one part of the wing.