On Tuesday our group traveled to the majestic Palace of Versailles (about 20km outside of Paris), and we spent most of the day there walking around the grounds. First built as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, the building continually went through phases of remodeling in order to stand as it does today. The palace is most well known for the additions made by Louis XIV (or "The Sun King"), which are namely in the Late-Baroque and Rococo styles. The palace shines when the sun strikes the gilded gates, roofs, and facades. The IES group got a private tour of a section of the palace that is usually closed to the public; therefore, we did not have to stand among the hundreds of tourists piling into the main attraction rooms of Versailles (i.e. The Hall of Mirrors). In fact, our group got to go inside the Royal Chapel, which is normally roped off. Our guide told us that the chapel's organ is over 300 years old and consists of over 1,000 pipes! After the tour ended, some friends and I walked around the gardens, which are probably a lot more breathtaking in the spring when the gloom of winter doesn't hang so harshly over the sky. Regardless of the lack of flowers and cool weather, the gardens were impressive in size and beauty. The land and lakes stretch into the distance and there is no telling where the grounds of Versailles end. It is truly a magical place! At one point, I was following three of my guy friends who were all arguing about which way would be the most direct way back to the palace (of course, all three of them were wrong...big surprise). We ended up in a back corner of the gardens where an old well stood. I seized the moment to make a photo opportunity out of the well encounter (as shown in the photo above).
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