Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Palace Tour Continues Through the Hall of Mirrors and Out to the Gardens

There is so much to see at the Palace of Versailles, Versailles France that I doubt very much you can capture everything in photos or in sightseeing all in one day. The Palace and the grounds are the kind of place that requires you to return often to enjoy it in the different seasons. If you live close to Versailles or you happen to be visiting, you are lucky you can enter the gardens free of charge and spend the day if you like. It's a wonderful place to spend time.

As you can see by my photos, the weather was quite overcast. It was a Winter's day in January 2019 but I found the weather perfect. In fact, indoors with my coat on it was too warm but outside it was drizzling rain and I found myself dressed just right.

I left off in my last post here just as I was about to enter a very special place in the palace.


 

 The Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. As the principal and most remarkable feature of King Louis XIV of France's third building campaign of the Palace of Versailles, construction of the Hall of Mirrors began in 1678.


 



The Hall of Mirrors or La Grand Galerie in French, is a massive room.  It measures about 240 feet long and 34 feet wide and has a 40-foot ceiling. On one wall, 357 mirrors stretch from floor to ceiling. On the opposite wall, 17 large glass doors offer breathtaking views of  Versailles sprawling gardens.  I took care not to look outside as I wanted to have my first real view when I exited the palace.
 

 The decoration of the Hall of Mirrors was completed in 1686 by  Le Brun and is a tribute to the military victories which led to the peace treaties of Nijmegen





 The palace houses many fabulous paintings, statues and furnishings. Most of the paintings are of the various battles and wars in which France was involved.
The salons are very impressive.




I honestly didn't get to spend as much time in the palace as I would have liked. After a few hours I was getting hungry and also very tired. The crowds seemed to be growing. When I exited the palace to look for a place to eat, this was my view.


I found a small bistro in one of the adjacent buildings and there I had something to eat. I don't remember what but I do remember having a nice coffee.

When I got outside to the gardens it seemed they stretched on forever in front of me.








 After assessing the size of the gardens and the time of day I had to make a quick decision about what to see next.
I'll share that in my next post.

So glad you stopped by.
Please come again soon as I'm trying to post a few more of my travel photos before the end of the year.
There are just so many photos to sort through and to try and select a few. I may come back and edit (add or delete photos and update narrative).

Joining in this week with 

15 comments:

Jim said...

Loved it. Your photos are great reminders.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, what a gorgeous place to tour. The hall of mirrors is just fabulous. I love both inside and the views outside. Wonderful photos from your trip! Enjoy your day, have a happy weekend!

Pamela M. Steiner said...

These are such amazing photos...of an even more amazing place! I've never seen such beauty. It really makes we wonder, if man can do this...just think how much more amazing heaven will be??? Wow! Thank you for sharing this with us.

Red said...

You were very wise to plan and take this tour . Awesome photos.

Jeanie said...

Wow. How opulent. I can see why you would have liked to have spent longer there. I suspect even one or two full day visits would barely scratch the surface. It really is a remarkable achievement, especially when you consider that when it was built, they didn't have the mechanics/technology we do now. All this would have been done pretty much by hand and installed that way, too. Remarkable.

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Amazing. I can certainly see why it would take more than a day to see everything. I would enjoy spending time in the gardens.

Lowcarb team member said...

Oh my goodness …
Your photographs are beautiful, this is such an amazing palace.

All the best Jan

Joanne Noragon said...

An enormous undertaking!

Mari said...

Wow! It is just breathtaking! The Hall of mirrors is so beautiful and I really like the sculptures too.

Indrani said...

Wow such grand interiors! Loved the shots!
Have a great weekend!

Klara said...

truly gorgeous place.

Rhodesia said...

Thanks for the memories, what great photos you took there. Hope you are well Diane

R's Rue said...

Beautiful.

Stewart M said...

Great pictures - we had planned to visit this place last week, but a train strike made things rather difficult! Oh well, next time!

Hope you have a great Christmas - Stewart M, Keswick, UK

jabbott said...

Did you see the series that was all about Versailles?I am not sure how much it stuck to real events, but I found it entertaining.

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