Versailles

No wonder the peasants revolted. The sun king's palace is beyond description. The grounds must have required thousands of servants for upkeep.

It was snowing in the town of Versailles this morning. It's always slightly colder there than in Paris. The van driver told us that the thick woods outside of Paris, named Versailles woods, was used for royal hunting centuries ago. Because it was a five-hour horse and buggy drive each way for a day's hunt, Louis XIV had a "hunting lodge" built in the woods. You should see the size and splendor of the original lodge, before the castle was built to sprawl around it. The king decided to move the seat of government over to Versailles so he could micro-manage it more strictly and keep members of the court under his royal thumb. Versailles evolved from a hunting grounds to a glorious castle with beautiful grounds.