8 April- Versailles Palace today.

Totally packed TO THE BRIM!!!! It was rancid, tourists touching 700 year old fabrics, taking photos with a flash 800 year old paintings, just totally disrespectful! Today I understood why the French hate tourists, after 15 minutes I wanted to punch someone.

Anyway- Versailles... it was like nothing you could ever imagine! Every square inch of the place screamed decadence! Extensive use of gold, mirror, Crystals, glass, brocade and silks, all indicative of the wealth, power & prestige of the French aristocracy.

I relished the small details like hand-blown glass in the windows that made the view beyond shimmer with movement, bed linens totally covered with hand embroidered silk emblems and handcarved wood panelling.

The gardens were amazing works of art. Acres and acres of finely manicured gardens. Hedges and tulips as far as the eye can see.

It is very difficult to grapple with, the fact that one family had SO much power & money, when the rest of the country was starving.

But I guess the average person, had the solution for that!