再訪凡爾賽宮
The Palace of Versailles（凡爾賽宮）is one of the largest and most magnificent royal palaces in the world. I had visited it during my earlier study tours with students, but those visits were always hurried. We followed the crowds through the principal rooms, took a few photographs in the Hall of Mirrors（鏡廳）, walked briefly through the gardens, and then rushed to our next destination.
Each time I left Versailles, I felt that I had seen its splendour but had not truly understood it. I always hoped to return and look at it more carefully.
This time, I visited with a friend who has a deep love for art. Before our visit, she carefully studied the palace’s architecture, paintings, sculptures, gardens, and political history. As we walked through Versailles, she shared what she had learned, enabling me to see far beyond its dazzling surface.
Versailles was originally a modest hunting lodge（狩獵行宮）built for Louis XIII（路易十三）. His son, Louis XIV（路易十四）, later transformed it into an immense royal palace and moved the French court there in 1682. Known as the Sun King（太陽王）, Louis XIV used Versailles not only as his residence but also as a powerful symbol of absolute monarchy（絕對君主制）.
My friend explained that the palace’s luxury was not created merely for personal enjoyment. Its enormous scale, elaborate ceremonies, magnificent paintings, and endless decorations all served a political purpose. They placed the king at the centre of court life and reminded every visitor that his authority was supreme.
The most breathtaking room was the Hall of Mirrors（鏡廳／Galerie des Glaces）. Sunlight entered through tall windows overlooking the gardens and was reflected by the mirrors on the opposite wall. Crystal chandeliers, gilded statues, painted ceilings, and marble filled the hall with light and splendour.
During my previous visits, I had mainly admired its beauty. This time, my friend helped me understand the history witnessed by this great hall. It was used for court ceremonies and royal celebrations, but it later became the setting for events that changed the world. The German Empir was proclaimed there in 1871, and the Treaty of Versailles（凡爾賽條約）was signed there in 1919 after the First World War.
The same hall that once celebrated the glory of the French monarchy therefore also witnessed the rise of Germany and the reshaping of Europe. Knowing this made the Hall of Mirrors feel more solemn. It was no longer merely a beautiful room; it was a silent stage upon which history had repeatedly turned.
In the King’s State Apartments, every room was decorated with paintings, marble, gold, and symbols drawn from Greek and Roman mythology. My friend pointed out how Louis XIV associated himself with Apollo, the god of the sun. The imagery reinforced his identity as the Sun King and presented him as the source of order, power, and brilliance.
The King’s Bedchamber also revealed the unusual life of the royal court. The king’s daily routine was not entirely private. His waking and retiring ceremonies were carefully regulated public events attended by selected nobles. Even the simple acts of dressing and eating became expressions of rank, privilege, and royal authority.
In the Queen’s Bedchamber, we thought of Marie Antoinette（瑪麗・安東妮） and the dramatic changes that overtook her life. The room was elegant and richly decorated, yet its beauty could not hide the tragic history of the French Revolution. In October 1789, an angry crowd marched from Paris to Versailles, forcing the royal family to leave the palace and return to the capital.
Standing there, I felt a striking contrast between outward magnificence and inner insecurity. The palace appeared permanent and invincible, but the monarchy that created it was approaching its end.
Outside, the Gardens of Versailles extended toward the horizon. Designed principally by André Le Nôtre（安德烈・勒諾特）, they displayed extraordinary order and symmetry. Trees, flower beds, fountains, canals, sculptures, and pathways were arranged according to a grand plan.
My friend explained that the gardens represented humanity’s attempt to control nature. Even the landscape was made to obey the vision of the king. From the palace terrace, every line seemed to extend outward from the royal residence, as if Versailles itself were the centre of the world.
We walked slowly through the gardens rather than merely viewing them from the palace windows. The farther we went, the more clearly we understood their enormous size. The Grand Canal reflected the sky, while fountains and classical statues appeared between carefully trimmed trees. The combination of art, architecture, water, and landscape created a world of almost unimaginable elegance.
We also visited the Grand Trianon（大特里亞農宮）and the Petit Trianon（小特里亞農宮）, which offered relief from the strict ceremonies of the main palace. Nearby, the Queen’s Hamlet（王后村莊）presented an idealized image of rural life. Marie Antoinette used this private retreat to escape the pressures of court life, although its carefully designed simplicity was very different from the hardship experienced by ordinary French farmers.
This visit helped me see Versailles from several perspectives. It was a masterpiece of architecture and decorative art, a centre of political power, a theatre of royal ceremony, and eventually a symbol of the inequality that contributed to the French Revolution.
Without my friend’s research and historical explanations, I might once again have seen only the gold, mirrors, paintings, and beautiful gardens. Through her sharing, I began to understand the ambitions, fears, conflicts, and human stories concealed behind the palace’s magnificent appearance.
What impressed me most was the contrast between grandeur and fragility. Louis XIV built Versailles to demonstrate the permanence of royal power, yet history proved that no power is permanent. The palace survived, but the world that created it disappeared.
As we left Versailles, I once again felt that a single visit was not enough. Its rooms contain too many stories, and its gardens reveal new scenes with every change of light and season. Versailles is not simply a palace to be admired; it is a place where art, ambition, power, beauty, and revolution meet.
I had visited Versailles before, but this was the first time I felt that I had truly begun to understand it.
