The Palace of Versailles is visited by more than 15 million people each year making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world! This massive royal residence started at as a simply hunting lodge built in 1623 by Louis XIII, which then became a small château between the years 1631 and 1634. During King Louis XIV’s reign, the château was expanded into a palace between the years 1661 and 1715. In 1682, Louis XIV moved his entire court and government to the palace making it the de facto capital of France. As kings came and went, each one added a little more and a little more to the Palace. It was also during this time that Queen Marie Antoinette resided within her own apartments within the Palace when she married King Louis XVI until 1789 when the royal family returned to Paris. The French Revolution caused the Palace to be abandoned as the entire city surrounding the Palace was plummeted. When touring the Palace, you can see the “hidden” door to left of her bed where she was able to escape from rioters who stormed the Palace on October 6, 1789.

Following the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte took over France and made the Palace of Versailles his summer residence from 1810 to 1814. It was further restored in the 1830s when King Louis-Philippe ascended the throne and added a museum dedicated to French history. The museum has grown over the years to included over 60,000 works of art illustrating 5 centuries of French History.

The Palace of Versailles has had a long history of restoration and abandonment. Though it was chosen as a place of importance for the signing of the the peace treaty of 1919 (The Treaty of Versailles 1919) in the Hall of Mirrors, thus effectively ending World War I, it was then left crumbling until 1927 when John D. Rockefeller made a 40 million francs donation to France reserving 23 million francs specifically for the restoration of the Palace of Versailles. What we see today is the great effort of many to preserve French history and nationalism. 

When we first entered the grounds, we were all amazed by the golden gate the surrounds the Palace. We waited in line patiently as our passes were checked. Make sure to purchase your tickets online prior to visiting. They try to maintain a certain number of patrons due to Covid-19. However, we found the Palace to be packed room to room with people visiting during the pandemic of 2021. In fact, we lost our youngest child in the sea of people. She got caught in a group of tourists and made her way to the exist unbeknownst to us. My wife lost years off her life as she begged the security team to find our daughter. I will say that the staff was amazingly helpful and calm (unlike my wife) as they coordinated a search team within the Palace. My daughter was found patiently sitting on a bench by the exit waiting for us to find her. They escorted our family and daughter to a meeting place. We were then able to tour the Palace with my wife gripping my children with white knuckled determination. Once past the fear and fury, we were able to enjoy walking around the palace with our history pamphlets in hand. 

As you drive to the lake, you will cross over Gorges du Verdon. Gorges du Verdon is the largest canyon in Europe, between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Much like the Colorado River eroding away its surrounding land to create the Grand Canyon, the Verdon river spent a millennia digging its way through the land to create these massive, beautiful gorges. If driving along the way there are several look out points to stop and take pictures. If you so choose, you can actually spend the day on the Verdon river floating through the gorges! 

This is just what we did!! There are several options to rent pedal boats, canoes, kayaks, and electric boats. We opted for the pedal boat that cost around 40 euros for two hours. It housed our family of four quite comfortably. However, there is so much to see that two hours simply did not seem long enough…we didn’t even make it to the end of the gorge because my wife has weak chicken legs (love you booboo). We did stop along the way to allow our youngest daughter time to swim in the river. The waters were such a clear blue-green that she couldn’t resist the urge to jump in. Well, that’s not quite accurate. She wanted to swim but didn’t have the guts to enter the cold water after she dipped a toe in, so my wife pushed her overboard. But then she was fine (she was wearing a lifejacket and knows how to swim…no children were harmed in the making of this blog post).

With the weather sunny, the temperature warm, and the water crystal clear…there were many people floating through the gorge. Be be prepared for music, singing, drinking, swimming, jumping from shallow cliffs, (hushed voice) slight upper nudity, and splashes all around. Also watch out for people not watching out! We did have a few minor heart murmurs from almost boat collisions. You know, that slow motion oh no there is a boat coming towards us, quick, back pedal, turn the knobby thingy in the opposite direction, hold on, and pray. I will say that my spoiled wife was drooling over some of the electric boats that had plush seating, dining tables, awnings, and even an actual steering wheel! So be sure to research you options before committing and check if reservations are needed.

Now, with a day of swimming behind us, let’s get back on the road and actually make it to the end of the gorges to find Lac Saint Croix. Lac Saint Croix is the 3rd largest lake in France covering an area of 2,200 hectares (10 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide). A dam, built at the entrance to the gorges, near Baudinard, retains 760 million cubic meters of water and produces more than 150 million kWh per year supplying the surround towns with electricity. Would is surprise you to know that this is actually a man-made lake? That’s riiiiiight!!! Built between the years 1971 and 1974, this lake has some of the clearest blue-green waters perfect for swimming, boating, and sailing.

Last but not least on our road trip…Point Sublime

I simply could not resist this final photo-op on our way home known as the Panorama of Point Sublime. Located on the Causse de Sauverterre, at an altitude of 870m, Point Sublime is a very frequent tourist stop overlooking the Cirque des Baumes of the Tarn river Canyon. The Tarn river flows through the caverns creating another dazzling canyon full of birds, cliffs, and caves.

That right…CAVES!!! The Baumes Chaudes’ cave is supposed home to the Chase civilization otherwise known as the first hunter-gatherers. Excavated between 1875 and 1883, Dr. Prunière found the remains of more than 300 individuals now laid to rest at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. My wife got stupid excited when she saw stairs, railings, and cave entrances (hiking is her favorite pastime). But alas, we were on a time schedule and could not partake, and then she became sullen. Turns out there is a whole lot of adventure to be had here with a little research. We may just come back.

We took little time to teach the children the value of quiet scenery (though with them, quiet didn’t quite last as long as I’d hoped). So, we used this as an opportunity to teach them basic photography 101. The cliffs made the perfect setting for teaching how to shoot foreground and background, focal points, and angles. My oldest daughter seemed quite adept to the camera and took her sweet time to inhale the beauty around her. I highly recommend stopping here for a little picnic and peace.

Puimosson is quite a convenient location for it surrounding adventures. While staying there, we visited the commune Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a natural reserve listed by Unesco including 60 towns and villages in the Alpes de Haute Provence. It is literally located on the side of a mountain! This little commune is mostly financed by tourism and traditional ceramics. If driving, be very careful as the roads are quite narrow and very, very (I mean built on the side of a mountain) very steep with some sharp turns. There were several paid parking lots, but with tourism being its number one form of economy, parking can be quite difficult to find. 

Once we found a parking spot, we got out to walk the town. Our first stop was Notre-Dame de Beauvoir Chapel built between the 12th and 16th centuries. Mind you, you have to climb up 262 steps to get there! Watch out for crying children (I know my youngest was among them). The steps have been traveled so much that many of them are worn down to a smoothness that could be quite dangerous if you don’t watch your step. As you climb the steps, you will pass the seven oratories, which in the past marked the path, and replaced by the fourteen Stations of the Cross in 1860 decorated with ceramics made by Simone Garnier. An interesting fact about this particular chapel is that during the 17th century, rumor has it, stillborn infants were brought to this chapel for baptism because it was said the infant would come back to life for the duration of its baptism and then its souls would pass onto Paradise. The Chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir was listed as a historical monument in 1921.

Once finished at the Chapel, we made our back down to the township and walked through its picturesque streets. There are several shops and local vendors lining the streets. You can choose from more than twenty restaurants to eat at should you get hungry. We are not quite so adventurous and simply chose to purchase sandwiches and drinks from one of the boulangeries (bakery). We were not disappointed!!! The town also hosts 8 workshops dedicated to the old ways of creating traditional ceramic craftsmanship. Moustiers has been labeled as one of the “most beautiful villages of France.”

One last thing, when visiting Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, be sure to look up!!! There is a star situated between two peaks of the mountain. Though no one knows for sure how the star got into its position, here are two theories:

You choose, which one do you believe?