Private Versailles Half Day Trip: Palace and Gardens

A World Heritage listed, the Palace of Versailles is one of the finest achievements of French art in the seventeenth century. The former hunting lodge of Louis XIII was transformed and expanded by his son Louis XIV who installed his court and his government in 1682. Until the French Revolution, kings have succeeded, embellishing each the Castle. This royal jewel is definitely a must-see French landmark. Venture in the Palace, discover its spectacular architecture, and its splendid rooms like the King and Queen’s apartments, many livings room with its stories and the breath taking Mirror Hall design to impress visitors with its three hundred and fifty seven mirrors, its marble and bronze decorations and its gilded bronze sculptures. The visit ends with an introduction to Versailles Gardens. Thanks to skip the line access, the guide invites you to discover the Royal Apartments.

It was the fifth – and final – chapel built in the Palace since the reign of Louis XIII. The design was presented to the king by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1699. Unfortunately, the First Architect to the King died in 1708 before the end of the works, which were finished by his brother-in-law, Robert de Cotte.

Inaugurated in 1770 during the reign of Louis XV, it was at the time the largest concert hall in Europe, and was also a great technical achievement and an impressive feat of decorative refinement. A theater for monarchic and then republican life, it has hosted celebrations, shows and parliamentary debates.

In 1661, Louis XIV charged André Le Nôtre to create the gardens of Versailles. The creation of gardens requires a gigantic work about forty years: leveling spaces, landscaping garden beds, creation of ponds and the Canal. Louis XIV considered gardens as important as the castle. André Le Nôtre created an ultimate French Style garden: a terrace with a global view of the gardens, a geometric organization of the axes, ponds, flowerbeds, groves. The garden is designed like a building, a walk playing on the perspectives. Charles Le Brun drew a large number of statues and fountains. The 221 sculptures make Versailles as the world's largest open-air museum of sculptures. Fountains and groves adorn the gardens. The groves regularly hosted the King's walk and the entertainment of the court. Appreciate a stroll trough the Le Nôtre's gardens. Each summer, Versailles offers superb entertainment in the gardens to give visitors the experience of the magnificence of the celebrations in the garden at the time of Louis XIV. Your guide will offer you a visit to the musical gardens (Tuesday from June to October) and the musical fountains show (Saturdays and Sundays from April to October).