Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles began as a hunting lodge for King Louis XIV, but by the time of his grandson it had become the most luxurious and opulent residence in the Western World. The Hall of Mirrors where Woodrow Wilson signed the treaty ending World War I, the public and private bedrooms of three generations of French royalty, and the many rooms of state have been restored to their original, fantastic conditions. Add to all of this the palatial gardens surrounding the palace and one has a heavenly paradise on earth. More poignant, however, is the story of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, who became victims of a French Revolution whose violence eventually devoured its own sons. It ultimately succumbed to Napoleon, who declared himself Emperor, and re-created the class of nobility that the Revolution had attempted to erase.Read more