The Palace of Versailles

As you know, we spent two days in and around Paris. On our second day, we headed to the Palace of Versailles. Better described as an estate, Versailles was a hunting lodge built by LouisXIII but was expanded on by Louis XIV. It encompases 800 hectares (around 1976 acers) and has 3 chateaux, annexes, parks and extensive gardens with over 25 fountains.
Josh and I have been to a few estates in our time. We loved visiting the huge homes in Rhode Island and different palaces here in Germany. Nothing we have seen so far gets even close to Versailles. To say it is huge can't begin to explain it. Of course, with an immense estate, comes immense crowds. It was a little overwhelming and it was almost impossible to get really good shots inside the Palace (though non flash photography is allowed). I did take a few shots and posted them, but most of our time and photo opps were on the grounds of the Petite Trianon (Marie-Antoinett's little hidey hole on the grounds) and the Queen's Hamlet (a village of cottages built in the style of Normandy villages)
The Petite Trianon was a gift from Louis XVI on the accension to his throne. The Queen's Hamlet, which really helped to make the Queens gardens famous, were an amazing place to wander around. Marie-Antionette had 12 houses (10 are still standing) built and include the Mill, the Boudoir and the Pigeon Loft. We could have stayed all day there. It was almost magical. There are extensive gardens around each of the houses that furnish some of the grounds resteraunts with fresh produce. While strolling through the gardens, we saw pumpkins, artichokes, tomatoes, peppers and grapes. There was also a farm area with geese, chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs and mules. We stopped at the farm for some freshly squeezed orange juice which was refreshing as the temprature was creeping up towards 80 degrees.
After we left the Hamlet, we caught the train back to the grand canal and walked throught the gardens. There are over 25 fountains in the park - which is a lot of water - so they are turned on at different intervals. A lot of our shots are non spraying fountains, but around 3:30PM some were turned on which made the pictures so much better. The picture at the top of the post is in front of The Fountain of Latona. The fountain represents and episode from Apollos childhood. Apollos mother Latona, having been ridiculed by the Lycian peasents, beseeches Jupiter for vengence, who then turns them into frogs.
There are a lot of photos following this post, so please bare with me.