Versailles

As part of our trip to Paris, we took a side trip to Versailles, located not far from the city center. A few other people thought it would be a good idea to go there as well. Here I have found the end of the line - good thing we went when it was "uncrowded"!

The palace at Versailles is hard to describe. It is so over-the-top opulent, one wonders how the royalty managed to get anything accomplished at all. It is also no wonder that there was a revolution against the royalty; it is clear just from the building that the rulers were rather preoccupied with lavishing themselves and left with little time or desire for managing the state for the betterment of the masses. Here is a view of the palace from the gardens below.

Here is the famous "Hall of Mirrors", used (as the name would suggest) as a hallway, nothing more.

One fun thing they have at Versailles is a hallway with busts of famous French personalities from history. Here is Iva with Rene Descartes, creator of the Cartesian (x-y) plane.