It rained today. Unlike in Spain, here the rain stays mainly in plain sight no matter where you go. So we did what the royalty of old did when the weather got bad – leave the city for the shelter of the palace of Versailles.

(On a side note, the trains are no longer free and we had a run in with the rail authorities for not paying proper fare. +1 for being from the US. )

Versailles is the city of the kings of France. The village is a few miles west of Paris and existed solely to support the king and his court. While many things change over time, it remains true that the rich and wealthy prefer a place like Greenwich over NYC.

The artwork in every room is absolutely phenomenal. Paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, statues of Greek heroes, and more gold trim than Las Vegas. Versailles was built to show off the absolute power of the French throne, and it lives up to its name.

This, for example, is the “war room.” If post-Napoleonic France had used this color scheme instead of a white pallette, who knows how many wars would have been won.

The palace has two wings, one for the king and one for the queen. Separating the two is the famous Hall of Mirrors.

The Hall is an engineering feat in itself. Mirrors were difficult to make in the eighteenth century, with most of the industry based in Italy. The King (don’t remember which, not important if you’re an engineer) commissioned 700 mirrors to be fabricated in France for this Hall. The result is a shimmering as the mirrors reflect the light coming in from the 17 bay windows on the right. Today was cloudy, but I can only imagine how this would look on a clear day.

Of course, the ancient regime of France could never have it’s crown jewel left untouched by Napoleon. When the Emperor moved to Versailles, he made some changes to the wings, including commissioning this room. The panoramic below shows three paintings about Napoleon, including the famous coronation on the left wall. (The digital audio guide tells me that the original is in the Louvre).

Much like other such historical venues, Versailles is now a tourist trap, with plenty of opportunities to plunck down some plastic (with a chip) and buy something. I was tempted to buy this fancy letter opener.

Just think how fast Napoleon must have been with all his bills and junk mail. No wonder he had time to conquer Europe.