The State Apartments are where Louis XIV received foreign dignitaries and conducted the daily rituals of royal life. Each room is named after a planet or a god — the Salon of Apollo, the Salon of War — and decorated accordingly, with painted ceilings, gilded cornices, and furniture that took craftsmen years to complete. The Hall of Mirrors is the centrepiece. Seventeen arched mirrors reflecting seventeen arched windows, filled with light from the gardens. It was here that the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871, and the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919. The room carries history in every reflection. The Royal Chapel and the Queen's Apartments complete the main circuit — each as lavishly decorated as the last, each telling a different chapter of the three centuries of French history played out within these walls.

André Le Nôtre designed the gardens of Versailles as a demonstration of humanity's dominion over nature — 800 hectares of clipped hedges, geometric pools, fountains, and tree-lined avenues radiating outward from the palace like rays from the Sun King himself. The Grand Canal stretches for 1.6 kilometres. The Fountain of Apollo shows the sun god rising from the water. On weekends and select weekdays, the Musical Fountains Show runs — check the Versailles website for dates, as it significantly enhances the visit. Allow at least two hours for the gardens — more if you want to reach the Trianons, the smaller palaces at the far end where Marie Antoinette kept her private retreat.