Visiting Versailles

It is with tongue-in-cheek that I share these photos from our visit to Versailles (from a few years back) on the eve of la Fête Nationale française. I recently learned that Bastille Day in France is not actually a celebration of the storming of the Bastille on July 14th, 1789, but instead the establishment of a constitutional monarchy on the same date in 1790. The Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at the time of the French Revolution. We took a day trip by RER Train from Paris, which was about an hour. Because it is the most-visited chateau in France, the crowds are crazy, and to get any good pictures, go as early as you can. While the palace is every bit fabulous, opulent, and spectacularly maintained, I was infinitely more charmed by the Petit Trianon, a small chateau on the grounds of Versailles. Marie Antoinette made this building her personal palace where she would escape from court life. She created a hamlet on its grounds, which were yet another retreat for the Queen. It included stables, a pig sty, sheep pen and hen house and served as an education on farm life for the royal children. The hamlet is a collection of cottages and other structures that appeared outwardly rustic to mimic a simpler, pastoral life, yet inwardly were opulent in style where the Queen could host small parties. Today, the hamlet is beautifully kept and still has chickens, rabbits, cows and a working garden filled with produce all season long. For me, I would be more than happy to skip the palace to come straight back to this darling little farm!