Weddingbee Blog

Looking back on our fabulous honeymoon trip to England and France, we both agree that the highlight was our day trip to Versailles, the over-the-top home and gardens of the Sun King, Marie Antoinette…oh, and a couple other Louises!

Versailles is a very short drive from Paris, so if you’re already in the city, I highly recommend making the trip! When you first pull up to the palace, be prepared for crowds galore.

The whole area outside the palace gates is absolutely swarming with people! Although this presented an initial disappointment, it definitely didn’t ruin the experience for me, personally. If you have a good imagination, just picture it without all the people. (Or if you have a really good imagination, picture them in 18th century dress, and the whole scene will resemble what Marie Antoinette first saw as she pulled up in her carriage as the new Dauphine!) Anyway…my other advice is that the palace is closed on Mondays. So take note! Mr. Turtle and I did our research, but I do know people who have shown up on a Monday, only to be extremely disappointed.

Mr. Turtle in front of the palace gates…(See those crowds I was talking about?)

After eating a surprisingly delicious sandwich at the Grand Cafe d’Orleans, we entered the palace. (We toured it with our Parisian tour guide booked through Trafalgar.) I promise that you will go absolutely nuts over the interior of the palace if you are either a history buff or an enthusiastic fan of Rococo interiors…and gilt everything.

Me in the Hercules Room

The painted ceiling of the Hercules Room

Notice the intricate detailing on the doors! Louis XIV (AKA “The Sun King”) really left his mark on everything. He compared his life to that of the sun’s, because everything revolved around him. Yes…really.

We loved the wallpaper and furniture in this hall!

I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the amazing light fixtures in every room!

Me with a famous portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children

The Sun King himself (Check out those high heels!)

Standing in the Hall of Mirrors

The King’s bed

The Queen’s bed (So it’s a little ornate, but the detail on the wallpaper and fabric is amazing!)

Our main disappointment about our trip to Versailles was related to touring it with a group. After these rooms, our tour guide took our group out of the palace because someone needed to use the restroom. *rolling my eyes…* We turned around to go back inside to finish viewing the palace and courtyard, but the guard said that re-entry to the palace was not allowed! When we looked for our tour guide to ask her why she did that when we weren’t finished, she had disappeared! Since the lines were ridiculous, and we didn’t want to wait and pay for new tickets, we decided to make the best of it, and go on to enjoy the gardens.

And as for the famous gardens, we thought they were as beautiful as everyone builds them up to be and more!

Mr. Turtle with a giant urn

Me with the facade of the palace (Notice how I’m squinting? The sun was briiight!)

View of the fountain and gardens (The fountains were supposed to be turned on the day that we visited, (Tuesday) but unfortunately they weren’t working correctly. They did play the music in the gardens still though! That was fun!

Wait…what are those things spitting water? Turtles?? It was too good to be true! Check out my namesake at Versailles!! Precious!

Mr. Turtle with the fountain and the Palace in the background

The gardens are so huge, you could wander in them for hours! I definitely recommend spending a significant amount of time in the gardens if you go to Versailles. There are refreshment stands, lots of benches, and options to rent boats and golf carts. If the weather is right, it’s the most beautiful setting for a romantic stroll. If it’s hot, the trees provide wonderful shade for sitting on the grass. Unfortunately, we had to get back to our tour bus before we had time to make it to The Grand Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s Estate and gardens. This was a major disappointment to me, but we had such a wonderful time at Versailles, that instead of letting it get us down, we promised each other that we’ll make another trip to Versailles and spend a whole day there! I’m so looking forward to that day!

If you want to see some great pictures of what we missed out on, check out Mrs. Taffy’s post about her visit.

Well, that’s it for my honeymoon recap series! We had the most amazing time on our trip, and feel so thankful to Mr. Turtle’s parents for generously gifting it to us. If you missed anything, check out my previous posts:

• The Turtles Hit London (Part I)
• The Turtles Hit London (Part II)
• The Turtles Say, “Bonjour, Paris!”

And as for our wedding recaps, I promise I’m not avoiding them! We’re still waiting for our professional pictures! As soon as I get them, I will begin telling you all about our wedding day!