Chateau de Versailles 

  I'd always heard things about Versailles, how oppulent it was, how it was the standard by which all other palaces are measured.  I didn't really believe the hype.  But I'll tell you, it's impressive.  Granted, it was most likely a monumental waste of money, but now that the money's already been spent, I don't mind going to visit.  It was a bit confusing when we got there.  There's a number of entrances and it wasn't clear where you had to buy tickets as opposed to where you entered.  As I recall (and I may be wrong about this since it's been too long) the separate entrances do both.  There's a line for buying tickets as well as a line for entrance that that section of the palace if you already have a ticket.  The different entrances sold different types of tickets too.  You have to wonder what they were thinking!  So the basis of a decent plan is: Figure out which entrances sell the type of ticket you want, check them all out and go for the one with the shortest line (the lines are going to be long!).  Once you have your ticket, realize that you don't have to wait in the big lines to gain entrance to each part of the palace.  Looking at the Versailles web site it seems that all of this has changed since we visited.  For instance, it appears that there's only one place for ticket sales.  So take my comments with a grain of salt...

  Now, apart from how to get in, here are the things that I'd recommend.  For me, the grounds, including the gardens, fountains, orangery, the Triannon's, the grand canal among other things were the best part of the visit.  Even in very early spring while nothing was really in bloom it was a great place to walk around.  Granted, we had a beautiful sunny day and I'm sure that helped!  You'll also need to visit the Palace itself, of course, but if you've been to other similar palaces/castles (Windsor Castle in England, the Papal appartments at the Vatican, for instance) the interior rooms of Versailles aren't much different.  That is, except for the Hall of Mirrors.  Go see it.  This is not to say that you shouldn't go through the King's apartments and such, it's definitely interesting, but if you're short on time, visit the Hall of Mirrors, walk around the gardens, then visit the other areas of the palace last.  One of the more enjoyable things we did was take a row boat out on the Grand Canal.  It was one of those things that seems sort of silly but how many of you can say you rowed a boat at Versailles?

  There's a convenient train from Paris that goes to Versailles.  It's a bit of a walk to the palace, but it's not too bad.  For those who respect a good bit of irony, there's a McDonald's right across the street from the train station and as such is basically the first thing you see once you get there.  Sad; very sad.

Click here for pictures of Versailles