James Tucker in Cov

Versailles is exactly as spectacular as you assume it would be, except for the construction going on in the front yard. And in the Hall of Mirrors (top- if you look closely, you'll see that it's been divided in half by a mirror so they can do construction. It's actually hard to notice until you walk into the wall). Really, the whole place is just dripping with wealth; a sort of physical justification of the French Revolution.
The best part, though, is probably the gardens, which are full of fountains and lakes. At least half the fountains have sculptures sitting in them, usually of the scary variety, like the frog-men spitting water, or that really angry fish.
Oh, and also in the gardens are two smaller palaces (about the size of a high school each) built on the site of a former peasant village. These summer retreats are at least a 20 minute walk from the main building, presumeably all one needs to get away from it all. And, to add insult to injury, on the site of the village they pulled down Marie Antoinette had a fake village built, so she could play at being in the country. It's pretty much out of a fairy-tale, especially the crumbling plaster and bricks which have been painted on. There are some spectacular newer bits built in the 19th C., including a French Hall of Victory, which stops in 1807. Seriously.