King Louis XIV grew up in Versailes, in his father's hunting lodge. Word has it he greatly enjoyed the outdoors and once he became king, Louis missed this royal retreat. His time in Paris (located in the Louver) troubled him. Especially with all of the bickering Nobles at his back. So, Louis killed two birds with one stone. He moved the capital to Versailles and spent half of France's income (At the time Europe's richest country) to transform the hunting lodge into a palace fit for a king, and a few thousand courtiers . Louis' idea was to impress. To make a place so grand that the nobles wanted to flock there to be seen and to see. Once there, he engaged them in court life so complex and so interacted, that the nobles had no time to plot/conspire against him. The interior is rich and the gardens are spectacular. I spent a relaxing afternoon walking through the gardens, listening to Handle and watching impressive water fountains (on weekends only during the summer).

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