A Walk in the Gardens

These photos were snapped after our first day spent exploring the inside of the palace and shooting for a special project. Afterwards, we used our extra time to take a stroll in the gardens and sit by the boat lake, eating the best rum raisin ice cream- I’ve been craving it ever since!

I’m sort of a history nerd, and having endured Art History in college (btw I secretly loved it) allowed me to appreciate the astounding tale behind this palace. Though the world doubted King Louis the XIV, with his unrealistic vision for his domain, my inner aquarius couldn’t help but appreciate him. I imagine as a king, one would feel like everything was either granted to him or forced upon him. I think he desired to create one creative and difficult challenge for himself, that would in the end would leave him fulfilled with the beauty he achieved.

If you’ve walked through the Louvre, the prior palace for the French King, you would have a clear understanding of why his artistic self needed to create Versailles. The doom and gloom of the Louvre comes from centuries of history and battles and reconstruction, destruction, and more. To be tied into that, I imagine was being like held under the weight of the country’s most difficult times. Not to mention, it was just so GLOOMY! My personal need to be surrounded by light, beauty, and inspiration made me feel some sort of accord with one of the most famed kings. I truly felt a flutter inside, seeing the majesty of what he was able to create through determination- and now it’s one of the world’s greatest treasures.

The story of Versailles has always been one that’s intrigued me, and inspired me for about 7 years. It was an absolute dream to finally set foot inside the rooms and gardens I’d seen in movies and shows, and read about in history and art books. I made a recap video from our days exploring Versailles, as well as my whole month living in Paris here!

View our other Versailles adventures at Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon!