The treat of Versailles

At France's grandest palace, it's possible to live like a monarch. A new 14-room hotel offers luxury, history, private tours and a restaurant by Alain Ducasse

- VIR SANGHVI

Of all the palaces one reads about all over the world, very few are as celebrated as the Palace of Versailles. It was built by King Louis XIV of France, celebrated as the Sun King.

The Sun King's reign represented the glamorous peak of the French monarchy. Because he did not like Paris, he turned an old hunting lodge a short distance from the city into one of the greatest palaces ever built. It is a monument to royal excess that makes Indian palaces look like guest houses.

The palace was lit by thousands of candles, made from expensive beeswax. As my guide to the palace told me proudly last week, a single candle cost as much as a week's income for a French working man. ("That's why they had the French Revolution", I suggested, though my guide did not seem amused.)

Versailles is owned by the French government, which has spent hundreds of millions of euros on restoring it. I have been to Versailles - anyone can buy a ticket - but I have always found it too crowded with tourists. At its peak, before the pandemic, Versailles hosted 28,000 visitors a day; now the government has put a ceiling of 15,000 a day. You have to book days in advance to get in.

This is not as bad as it sounds because Versailles is huge. Around 10,000 people lived and worked in Versailles, so it was almost a small town. It has been treated as sacred. When visiting hours are over, the gates are locked and visitors are turned away.