French Châteaux: Versailles, Fontainebleau, Loire Valley

While in France I visited several French Châteaux, from UNESCO world heritage sites such as the palaces of Versailles and Fontainebleau to the fairy tale wonderland of the Loire Valley dotted with charming castles.

Château de Versailles
On ‘Bastille day’ or as the French would say, ‘La Fête nationale’ (14th July, anniversary of the start of the French Revolution) I headed out for one of the popular day trips from Paris, a visit to the most well-known château in this beautiful country, Château de Versailles. 
Return train tickets are sold at the Gare du Nord and the journey is touted as being a bit over an hour but somehow mine ended up taking very long. I believe I got on a ‘slow’ train but eventually arrived at my final destination with several hours to explore. Then I saw the huge line to get into the palace and all the excitement was sucked out of me!
There is the option of buying your ticket online but to get into the palace with a ticket still entails joining a long line unless you book a tour of one of the private apartments on a particular date and time. Then after this just explore the rest of the palace since you would already be in the building. The Hall of Mirrors is not to be missed. Unfortunately, due to my visit being on a national holiday I didn’t get this option. The other parts of the estate such as the magnificent gardens and fountains, coach gallery, grand Trianon and petit Trianon are hassle free to enter and worth visiting, and this is what I did.

If you plan to visit France you need to read up a bit about the French Revolution especially if you are non-European and was taught little about this. Present day France birthed from the impact of this history altering, extraordinary period which shook the globe. At the height of the Rebellion in 1789 the royal family was forcefully removed from the palace. A few years later Louis XVI, the last king of France, and Marie Antoinette were executed by guillotine at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palace of Fontainebleau

This palace is another UNESCO world heritage site located about 55 kilometres outside of Central Paris in the town of Fontainebleau. To get in is a breeze unlike Versailles Palace and is a great alternative or combination if time permits.
It is a feast for the eyes, richly decorated, intricately designed interior and lovely gardens complete with grotto, swans and fish. I spent half of my time staring at the ceiling with its grandiose designs and sculptures. To say it was magnificent is an understatement. The Gallery of Diana is another sight to behold and the richly furnished apartments of Marie Antoinette and Napoleon add to the historical allure. Apart from being the residence of French Royalty it was also occupied by Napoleon. I wish I had more time here…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is a fairy wonderland spotted with castles, enchanting small towns and vineyards. Located in central France it felt like stepping into the setting of Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. I visited several castles of the many found here. Each unique in history, architecture and layout so you don’t feel like it’s a twin when visiting several. A part of this valley was given the title of UNESCO world Heritage site.
There are bus tours from Paris to visit a few of the better-known castles but a better way to explore this region is to stay in one of the small towns and spend at least a week sightseeing. I stayed in Tours, a lovely little place about an hour outside of Paris by train. Unfortunately, I only had one day to explore instead of the preferred week but if you only have a day to spare the Loire Valley is more than worth your time.