Versailles- the palace of the Sun King, and it's not afraid to show it. Guilded frames, chandeliers, stairwells, doors gates windows, marble cherubs and statues and busts, not a corner left in painted or a finishing undecorated with the finest materials and patterns. Exuberant, embellished, and flamboyantly grand are a few small words for describing this place. It is so incredibly beautiful and so aggrivatingly sad when you think of how one family single handily blew the budget of a whole country while the people went hungry. It's no wonder this place was one reason revolt was just around the corner. It's big it's grand it's spectacular. Versailles is a full day event if you want to see all the buildings the gardin and Marie Antoinette's hamlet, and frankly you still probably won't see the whole thing. The worst choice you can make is to think you an walk the whole thing! Don't rent a bike a buggy or take the petite train because this places is massive and will humble the soles of your feet as it did mine! 
Hall of mirrors, designed to reflect the sun back on the gardens to remind everyone the Sun King lives here. As of the huge golden palace and various statutes of the king were not enough to do the job. 
I think this was one of the queens beds, on the kings side of the palace, there was another on the ladies side of the palace and of course she had a house in her hamlet when she needed solitude. Her life was obviously very difficult and tiresome.
The famous Poseidon fountain. 
After that I headed to the grand and petite ---- which is where the king houses his meetings and many of his relatives an friends. Each has it's own beautiful gardens to explore and get lost in. After that I headed to Marie Antoinette's hamlet which is a quaint little farm village she had built as an escape from palace life. It is pristinely beautiful and tranquille with some of the most beautiful rose gardens you have ever seen and plenty of animals to be adored roaming in the pastures it really takes you back in time even if the whole place was a bit of a ridiculous expenditure. At the time you could not go to this Hamlet unless explicitly invited by Marie Antoinette herself as it was her private space to relax. 
After a long and fufilling day at Versailles which was perfectly sunny btw I thought I'd catch an hour of R&R in the warm park by the canal before catching the train back to Paris. 
I ate my lasagna too fast to snap a pick! Oops believe me though when I say it was beautiful! This here is the crème brûlée! Yum!
Turning out of the train station onto a busy and wide street you have an immediate view of the front of the palace, you think it's big then but really you have no idea what's coming. To the left and right are the stables whih may also be toured but I opted out which was a good call since it took my the whole day to see the buildings hamlet and maybe quarter of the gardens.
The Chateaux is the first place you see starting with the palaces own private church.
I won't load all the many many pictures of Versailles here, you'll just have to see it for yourself some day. I'll give you a small taste of the chateaux the garden and the hamlet, the rest I will share on Facebook later.
Oh and of course you can't forget to stop at the Temple of Love...
These are my super fancy made-in-France designer shades called "waiting for the sun-France" I got on st.germain they are awesome and made of wood. So much awesome.
The train ride basically took me to dinner time so as soon as I got back I hunted down place to eat. Portager du Marias, a vegan resteraunt which is incredibly difficult to get into without a reservation as it is so popular. I was there early for dinner as the French usually eat at 8 or 9 so they let me sit outside and put me on a timer. Worth it. Vegan or not this is a must stop, if you can get in. Try eating at a weird time or all a few days in advance and make a reservation it's worth it. The lasagna, and French onion soup are amazing as well as the mushroom pâté for dessert I had a crème brûlée which was one of the best desserts I ate all week. Which trust me is really saying something! Go there! 
Oh and at Versailles for lunch there were a couple vegan options nothing to rave about but I certainly didn't starve there!
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