Discovering Versailles

Let's first get the obvious out of the way: Versailles is the epitome of opulence. It's the very definition of opulent. It's a place where gold-plating is used on the ceilings, where there isn't a single unadorned corner, where chandeliers hang everywhere... It's no wonder that Versailles has been used as the architectural inspiration for endless other palaces and important buildings of state.

No wonder, also, that it's one of the most visited sights in France and Europe. I mean, look at these crowds!

It took me two hours just to get through the entrance gates - thank goodness for my Kindle and a good pair of walking shoes. Amazingly, despite the endless masses of tourists threatening to cheapen the splendour of the palace, it seemed that Versailles had lost none of its regal charm - from the perfectly pristine palace to the micro-managed gardens, with perfectly sculpted trees and pathways as far as the eye can see.

It's no secret that the French and the English have a sibling rivalry-type relationship. Which is why when my tour guide explained to us the difference between French and English gardens, many laughs were had.

"A French garden is like zees." (Imagine the French accent.) "Eet has many straight lines and every-zeeng is parallel and ze two halves always face each other."

"Ze English gardens are messy and all over ze place."

The Gardens, I thought, were actually far more exciting than the palace. While the Palace was beautiful in its own way, there's nothing quite like getting lost in the mazes of tree-high hedges, wandering around and basking in the French sun, and then stumbling upon a water-fountain with (get this) gold dragons erupting from the surface.

Something that I certainly didn't expect to see: people rowing down a man-made river in the Versailles gardens! It seemed to me something almost too normal for a place of as immense importance as this - yet, surely this must have been something not too different from the types of activities that those who lived here must have engaged in.

It seems, in some ways, that Versailles a perfect metaphor for all of Paris, and of France. Old-world charm and the remnants of a time long gone, once cloaked in splendour, staunchly resolute in its refusal to be cheapened by tourists. A place that is beautiful, proud, and timeless.