Bonjour and welcome to France. This is the Palace of Versailles, and I am Andre Le Notre, the royal gardener.
I may not look like a gardener to you, but I designed all of the beautiful gardens around this palace.
In 1673 I helped make the beautiful gardens that you can still see in Versailles today.
Today only tourists and a few workers visit or live at the palace, but a great king once lived here.
He was King Louis XIV, who we call the Sun King.
By the time he died, Louis XIV had made Versailles one of the largest palaces in the world.
In 1623 Louis XIV's father, Louis XIII, built a small hunting lodge near the village of Versailles.
But Louis XIV loved Versailles so much that he had a grand palace built there.
In 1682 it became the official palace for the king of France.
Versailles has more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1,250 fireplaces, 67 staircases, and 50 fountains.
One of the most famous rooms is the Hall of Mirrors.
On the ceiling of this room, there are many paintings that depict the great life of Louis XIV.
Louis XIV was famous for more than just building nice gardens and decorating beautiful rooms.
He was a great king. Louis became king when he was only five years old.
Of course he could not rule France as a young boy, so his godfather and some noblemen were in charge of the country.
However, the noblemen did a very poor job of running the country, and the people of France became very unhappy with the royal family.
This made young King Louis very angry.
He wanted the people of France to be wealthy and happy because he loved his country.
But there was nothing he could do.
He had to wait until he grew up before he could become the ruler of France.
When he turned 23 years old, Louis XIV decided that it was time to govern the country himself.
None of the nobles believed it was possible for such a young king to rule a country. But he did.
He said, "I am the king! And the king is supreme."
Because he was so angry with the noblemen who had been running the country, he did not include them in his government.
Instead he chose the wisest and most loyal men he could find in France to help him. They became his ministers.
The young King Louis was a great success.
With his ministers, he helped the people of France prosper.
He developed factories and established trade with other countries.
He also supported many artists and scientists.
He and his ministers built a very powerful army.
Their army became the strongest force in all of Europe.
The French people became very proud of their country.
Life as a king was not easy for Louis XIV.
It was said that his days were planned right down to the minute, so he had almost no free time.
His days were filled with meetings and social gatherings.
All day long he went from one appointment to the next.
His first appointment usually began at eight thirty in the morning, and his last one ended around midnight.
King Louis was also a very religious man and went to church every day at ten o’clock in the morning.
He believed that as the king of France, he was God's servant on earth.
He built the Chapel Royal here at Versailles, which is one of the grandest parts of the castle.
Louis XIV is called the Sun King.
Louis wanted to be like the Greek god Apollo, who was the god of peace and arts.
The symbol for Apollo was the sun, so Louis also chose this as his emblem.
Louis XIV brought peace to France, developed the arts, and helped the people become wealthy.
Louis XIV died in 1715. He was king of France for 72 years, the longest reign in the history of Europe.
After Louis died, his son and then his grandson, Louis XV and Louis XVI, each became king.
But unlike Louis XIV, they were not great kings.
After a while the people of France became very unhappy with the royal family.
In 1793 they decided that they no longer wanted a king, so Louis XVI was arrested and killed.
Since that day France has had no king, and the Palace of Versailles has had no master.