From April 29th to May 12 myself, mother and two sisters traveled to France.

This is the first of my posts, Opulence, fitting, as on the morning of this day, 3o April 2014, we journeyed to see the (in)famous Chateau de Versaille

Fortunately, we went with a tour, so we were able to skip the dreaded queues, which were horrendous, even out of season.

Versaille was home to Louis XIV, also know as the Sun King.

This is because he was so self centered. He even had all the rooms in the palace built centrally around his own room

The short little beds of the French are most odd. I heard, which I cannot verify, that back in the old days, the French were so fat, that sleeping lying down posed a danger to their health.

They therefore used to sleep sitting up, or as upright as possible, shortening the beds so they could not be completely horizontal.

Like I said, I cannot substantiate this, nor find another viable explanation

When the castle was built for Louis, the required fountains were not The Gardens are incredible and by far the most worthwhile of all the viewing.

The gardens stretched for miles, and I would have walked or ran them all if not for our shuttle back to our Parisienne apartment

What fascinates me is that men and women, dressed in appropriate 17h century garb, walked the same halls  wherein I moved and breathed

I found the inside of the palace almost stiflingly opulent.

Honestly, I could not wait to burst free into the gardens.

The decadence is shown in magnificent paintings on the ceiling, causing many a tourist collision.

Once outside, I could breath easy again

God made beauty, outshines man’s feeble attempt to harness and manipulate it.

The town of Versaille is one of the more well to do areas of Paris, about 30 minutes (depending on traffic) from the Champs-Elysee 

When the fountains of Versaille were first built, to run them constantly was impractical due to the sheer volume required, and impossible with the limited engineering knowledge.

So, the estate merely hired enough staff to turn on each fountain as King Louis passed by until they figured out a more viable solution.

**Look Out for the next French Adventure**

*For detailed history of the Palace of Versaille, please visit their homepage

*Unfortunate many of the fountains were under construction at the time. April/May seems to be the time of year for construction in France, as we encountered at least 5 significant places with unsightly scaffolding enshrouding the fabulous architecture.