Among France’s must-see historic sites, Versailles looms large, larger than life, even, and we at Memories France are here to let you in on what you must do and see in there.
We fell madly in love with its glitter and glory many years ago, with a love that deepens at each return. How could the splendid Hall of Mirrors not captivate? How could the sheer number of thousands of rooms not dazzle? Yet each chamber possesses its individual and intricate detail that sets it apart from all the others. These are the secrets that our guides can share, letting you in on the enchantment Versailles has cast over visitors for centuries.
With a Memories guide, you too will soon be fascinated, and in love, as they conjure forth bygone eras. Their in-depth knowledge brings a time now lost to life in a way that will linger long after your return back to reality. Each tour is designed as a bespoke experience that will carry you on a journey into a period of splendor and elegance, an immersion into the Versailles of the courtiers and Kings who called it home.
Why is Versailles Unmissable?
For the history of France, Versailles marks the height of the monarchy as well as its downfall, which birthed an entirely new world order after the Revolution. How did it happen?
The story starts with a little boy king, Louis, fourteenth of that name, cowering in his bed as the landed nobles rose up against him. Secreted away from danger in the nick of time, he swore that once he reached full power, he would bring those rebels to heel. Despite their power, he would show them who was boss.
The Palace and Gardens of Versailles

After this same Sun King ruled became an adult, this is exactly what he did, rehauling his father’s old hunting lodge well outside the roiling rebellion of Paris. For all the world it resembled the most sumptuous, elegant residence on earth. In reality it was a gilded prison. But Louis XIV made the court so opulent and delightful that the aristocrats he called to live there would hardly know they were caged. Caged they were, however, not only by its walls but also by the strict system of etiquette, protocol and precedence revolving around the King, an Absolute Monarch. Its inhabitants referred to it as “in this country,” as though a land apart, an enchanted one like in the fairy tales that were told here. You might call Versailles a kind of noble theme park that would keep the landed and titled occupied and out of the way, while the king ruled with an iron fist in a velvet glove.

One tactic was to create some 2,300 rooms to house about 7,000 titled courtiers, plus the workers necessary to their lifestyle. Thus he crammed the Duchesse So-and-So and Marquis What’s-His-Name into postage stamp-sized apartments, reserving shoe boxes for bigwigs. Even the great Madame de Pompadour had to climb 100 steps to her own place. The nobles spent their time scrambling for favor, for better digs, or the precedence that would decide even what quality candle one could use. The strictest customs ruled the day down to their very gait. No one simply walked, they slid – mostly so as not to step on a woman’s train. An essential part of a courtier’s education, the 'Versailles glide' was even taught to Marie-Antoinette before she came to France. And those gowns had to be changed three and four times a day. For a rendez-vous to beg favor with a mistress or a patron, one did not simply knock on the right door, as the vulgar might: one scratched with one fingernail kept long precisely for this purpose. Once rebellious nobles were reduced to drinking, gambling, and chasing lovers under the King’s eye while his armies were off conquering Alsace and Lorraine.
There is much, so much, to do and see that we strongly encourage you to book a tour to get out every last drop of delight out of Versailles. At Memories we believe in bringing the past to life through our story telling and deep dive into France’s history. If you come to visit Versailles with us, you’ll see that it works its magic even today.
The Hall of Mirrors

The long corridor reflected the Sun King’s brilliance back to him and dazzling the court he assembled there, reminding them that no one escaped his powerful gaze. masked balls offered some relief from the stiff atmosphere, for with the freedome of a mask, you could pretend ignorance of whom you spoke to.
One time, Louis XV and his closest friends disguised themselves as the yews and walked in from the garden, like strolling trees, the mirrors showing all the whole show looked as if Le Nôtre’s topiary had been invited in from the cold. A costume like that allowed the king to flirt discreetly with the woman who would become his titled mistress, the powerful Madame de Pompadour. History does not say whether she was fooled.
The Gardens of Versailles

We so love to show the palace gardens. Created by André Le Nôtre, they were meant to “obey,” not the planet of the sun, but only the ever-rising Sun King himself around which they were meant to revolve throughout the seasons. The garden was not some willy-nilly playground for unruly greenery, but a statement of the King’s absolute authority even over Mother Nature. Secretly, the gardeners changed out the flowers every night so that Louis XIV might never gaze upon a wilted bloom.

He commanded at the outset,“I want childhood everywhere!” as if to reduce the nobles back to the days of irresponsible youth. Exotic animals from far-off places also added to the magic, elephants and rhinoceroses, but implied that the Sun King radiated his sovereignty even into foreign lands.
A whole flotilla of Venetian gondolas offered the nobles rides on the Grand Canal. When snow fell, the nobles in all their fine array indulged in sled races down the Allée Royale, and over frozen waters nearby. The thin ice, however, broke and more than one noble came in for a cold surprise.
THE TRIANONS
The Grand Trianon

The gondolas on the Grand Canal could take you right to the Grand Trianon, a haven within a haven. For even Louis XIV, who created the whole system, tired of the etiquette that weighed on himself more even than on his courtiers. The Trianon became his getaway. In fact he forbade the gilded overwhelm of Versailles for an airy, Italian style summerhouse. The delicate walls resulting eventually sheltered what he could salvage of a private life with his mistress, Mme de Montespan. She however, called it good enough for some actress, perhaps, but not for her. You can judge if you’d be as picky.
The Petit Trianon

In imitation of his predecessor, Louis XV also built a refuge, a pavillion of retreat for the enjoyement of one of his own mistresses, Madame de Pompadour, who had but few years before her death to enjoy it, and the king himself not long after that. His successor, young Louis XVI then offered this love nest to the his new wife, Marie-Antoinette. To so associate the Queen with the memory of mistresses shot eyebrows up to powdered hairlines.
But Marie-Antoinette-- who could get away with flicking bread balls at her royal husband when bored -- needed a place a part from stuffy old Versailles, a place where she could shun the rules of rank that granted chairs to some titles, stools for those lower down, and for those less privileged still, a mere cushion., what a breath of fresh air to escape to the Petit Trianon, a place behind closed doors. Here she invited her own clique that had nothing to do with protocol and prestige, but her own preference, among them men (boding ill for the slanderous pamphlets to follow)
She bucked tradition at everyone’s peril, but had a delightful time doing it, here at the Petit Trianon, prancing around in her famous muslins that looked to any mere mortal like her underpinnings. Here she whiled away the hours, gambled, played billiards and blindman’s bluff, flauting any sense of decorum that the rest of the court had been brought up to.
In 1785 she even played the maid in the Mariage of Figaro, the play with the words of the servant saying of his noble master, if monsieur the little count wants to dance, then i’ll play the guitar. Her royal husband said that the play would bring down the Bastille. Four years later, in the summer of 1789, exactly that happened when the people stormed the fortress. On that day, Louis XVI noted in his journal, “Nothing.” It was in the gardens of the Petit Trianon that a few short months later the queen got news of the armed crowd from Paris that would escort her -by force- from her enchanted playground.

The Queen’s Hamlet

Before that fateful hour, however, fun was the rule of the day in Marie-Antoinette’s life.
A century after the old king’s wish for “childood everywhere” Marie Antoinette could not have been more aptly obeyed when she extended her domain of the Petit Trianon with a dairy. Not the first queen to associate royal milk with her maternal role, this dairy may have had a thatched roof but its rooms inside were made of marble, as were the tables and urns to contain the milk, while the necessaries for making butter and cheesee were made of porcelaine. She took her coutnry idyll a step further and a whole little peasant village built where she might play at shepherdess among her perfumed sheep a fairy tale, a poem, a fantasy out of Rousseau.
Here time stops and we gather a sense of what one noble meant when he said that they tread a carpet of flowers that covered an abyss.

And yet the attraction of Versailles has withstood it all, even when its political reason for being has vanished. From the art on its golden walls, to the gardens beyond them, the two Trianons and Marie Antoinette’s hamlet: all this and more bear witness to history unfolding. Under the spell of their charm and beauty, with a Memories guide, you can let yourself be taken away by the entrancing atmosphere of a way of life now vanished.
As another noble once said, whoever did not live in the years around 1789 cannot know how sweet life could be. We warmly invite you to savor that sweetness with us to get the most out of every moment of your visit, from skipping time-wasting lines to really understanding, fun included, the phenomenon that was Versailles. Where better to have a ball than at the royal palace?

If you really want to get the full picture of life at Versailles, we can't recommend enough that you take the time and join our full day tour. An expert guide will tell you all the stories of the fascinating lives of the royals and their court, ending in their eventual downfall. It's one of our favorite ways to spend a spring or summer's day!
Still Not Enough Versailles?
We’re not surprised. Here are some other of the pleasures of Versailles, yours to sample.
Our recommendations for other unmissable things to see while you are in Versailles
The Night Fountain Show - Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes

Should you time your visit for the weekend, between June and October, those Saturday evenings, the Palace of Versailles comes alive at night at nightfall. As Baroque music plays across the sculpted greenery of the formal gardens, the palace is lit up, and the fountains run, culminating in a show of fireworks. You might yourself be among the Versaillais nobles enjoying one its lavish garden balls on the brink of the precipice. We say from experience that this is not an experience anyone soon forgets, an enchantment worthy of the Sun Kings superb fancy. Do be sure to buy your tickets in advance.
Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes Versailles official website (English)
Take the RER C from central Paris to Versailles Rive Gauche Chateau
The Royal Stables


The Sun King’s 600 horses also had to be housed in spectacular style. Perhaps better, even than some of the courtiers! The envy of Europe and beyond, Versaille’s royal stables also sheltered sons of the military nobility as they became royal page boys, apprenticed in the arts of the consummate gentleman: riding, fencing, dance, music and drawing, as well as military skills.
This exclusive edifice still stands, just opposite the château, as the Academy of Equestrian Arts. Completely restored and remodeled, the Academy is also open to visitors and if you come on a weekend you could also see one the horses perform:
Check details and reserve here.
📍Manège de la Grande Ecurie du Château de Versailles, Avenue Rockefeller 78 000 Versailles
The Carriage Museum

You may find yourself wondering how the nobles moved between Paris, Versailles and other noble residences and palaces. Wonder no more! Within the Academy of Equestrian Arts -- the old royal stables just across from the palace-- the Carriage Museum awaits. Here you’ll find all about how the courtiers got about and around. Admire the magnificent carriages, golden sedan chairs, finely crafted harnesses, and even sleighs used by the ladies to ride around the gardens in winter. We may have practicality and comfort nailed, but they had a style and splendor beating us by a French country mile.
📍 Les Grandes Ecuries, avenue Rockefeller, 78000 Versailles
The King’s Vegetable Garden, Le Potager du Roi

Of course the royal table must serve the most delectable of fresh produce, hence The King’s vegetable garden, or ‘Potager du Roi,’ Summoned forth but Louis XIV, he would enter by the golden gate leading into the palace park, showing off his beloved fruit trees to the chosen few invited. Some 450 varieties of fruit and 400 varieties of vegetables are cultivated here, including many ancient and rare varieties, a paradise for the green thumbs among us with an interest in heirloom gardening.
It’s a short walk from the Chateau, passing via rue de Satory, which abounds in restaurants and cafés.
📍 Le Potager du Roi, 10 rue du Marechal Joffre, 78000 Versailles. RER C to Versailles Rive Gauche Château
April – October: Tuesday – Sunday 10:00 – 18:00 / November – March: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 – 18:00
The Marché Notre Dame


Created more than 300 years ago by Louis XIV, Versailles’ Marché Notre Dameis remains to this day a draw for foodies and history buffs. The 19th-century covered halls open every day except Mondays. Friday and Sunday mornings you’ll discover a large and lively outdoor food market in the center of the quadrangle. This array of fresh, seasonal and often local produce provides a wonderful way to experience the atmosphere of a small town French provincial market, just a stone’s throw away from Paris.
Why not even purchase a picnic-friendly goodies there and hie yourself to the nearby park of the Palace of Versailles?
If picnicking is not your thing, plenty of fantastic cafés and bistros around the market offer a delicious lunch before or after a visit to the palace.
📍Marche Notre Dame, 78000 Versailles. Covered market open Tuesday – Saturday 07:00 – 19:30 and Sunday 07:00 – 14:00. Open air food market Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 07:00 – 14:00
The Royal Tennis Court (Jeu de Paume)

Tennis -- from the French “tenez” -- had always been a favorite among royals, at least since Francis I (and England’s Henry VIII). Who would have thought then that a court for the game would bring it all down like a house of cards?
When the Revolution came, the delegates of the Third Estate, the common people, rose up and defied the king who shut them out of negotiations at the palace. They simply moved to the royal tennis court, occupied it, and vowed that they would not separate until France had a written constitution.
This then, a simple tennis court, served as the stage upon which the fate of France – and eventually the world – played out, toppling crowned heads and bringing down all the privileges of their Majesties’ entourage, the very privileges courtieres curried for generations against the backdrop of Versailles.
📍1 rue du Jeu de Paume, Versailles (about 10 mins walk from the palace)
Open Tuesday -Sunday 12;30 - 5;30pm. Free entrance.

We hope you’ve come away from this with an idea of just how stupendous Versailles truly is! And such a palace calls not just for your average guide but for a storyteller extraordinaire. Where to find such a gem? You’re in luck because this is Memories’ stock-in-trade. The château’s history art and architecture hold no secrets to the Memories’ family. We will enthrall you with the tales of its pomp and pageantry past. In our expert hands a guided tour becomes time-travel, a visit as intimate as it is enriching.
Nor is that all! Our guests enjoy special access and personalized attention. You deserve to feel your own connection with the old Versailles magic and it is a point of pride with us that in our care, you will. When you join us on a tour of Versailles, you become part of our story. When that spark of wonder inevitably brightens our guests’ eyes as they explore this splendiferous palace and its gardens, then we know we’ve done our job.

When you choose us as the ones who will show you an unforgettable Versailles, to share our love for it with you, we accept with the deepest gratitude. We thank you for that trust and cannot wait to welcome you to this astonishing place, helping you fashion your own unique memories there.
Angelissa, Siobhan, and the Memories France Family