A bitter-sweet *5*. With over 1200 rooms, it's the largest structure in the world to be called "a home" and built at a devastating cost. Unfortunatley, the only place to inhale all of it is from the air, where you can take in the enormous scope of it and the amazing grounds that the structure hides from the commoners. The interior doesn't have one unadorned square inch and is so infused with history, that while on tour, your eyes never stop. The Hall of Mirrors is a mathematical wonder, designed to light-up from the rising Sun in unison with the King's morning appearance. The current floor is wooden parquet which covers a marble floor and is lined with large plant pots, which both served as a toilet for the royalty, since the entire structure has only two lavoratories.

P.S.: Pour moi...just as memorable as Versailles, are the patisseries located en route to the palace from the train station. Some of them were museums of edible art. I nearly had my own Grande Bouffe before I reached the palace...bag in hand...

I don't think it's possible for me to actually dislike a French building so, I'm giving Versailles the benefit of the doubt (yes, I'm sure the whole of France just breathed a collective sigh of relief). However, since I first laid eyes on this building (via a slide show in a high school art history course), it has given me a case of the creeps. Not the design - just a kind of vibe I got looking at the facade. I rarely feel that way about buildings and other inanimate objects so, many years later, I'm still not sure what that was all about. I guess I should now do a search or start a list on RIA concerning theories about past life experiences.