'Over the top' just got a new meaning

A dream come true: yesterday I visited Versailles for the very first time. The king of palaces, with its 51210 square metres of floor and home of the icon of luxury Marie Antoinette, was something my inner princess always wanted to see... And so did the inner princesses of hundreds of others yesterday.

After a lovely 2 hours of standing in a queue I was finally in. And stood outside six minutes later. What had happened? After (ok, I'll admit: blindly) following the mob I suddenly found myself outside, not having seen the famous 'hall of mirrors' or anything for that matter. Luckily I realised this two seconds after walking out of the building, I turned around and stood facing two big female guards with moody faces. They told me I was not allowed to enter the building again. 'Go back to cue' they told me. Go back to the cue? I had just been there for two hours! After lots of pleading I realised it was useless and left to discover the huge gardens of Versailles. It was pretty, but I felt cheated.

Walking towards the exit after hours of walking through the gardens, I looked melancholically  through a glass door were people were moving slowly towards the next room. And then I realised the door was slightly ajar and I could slip in easily! After walking through dozens of breathtaking rooms I left completely satisfied, feeling a bit like James Bond. Ha!

All rooms had different themes and colour schemes, with perfectly harmonised patterns and decoration. Curtains matching the wallpaper matching the furniture, and of course excessive use of gold everywhere. In the end I am more of a basic & simplistic type, but gosh this was impressive.

Print-on-print (same or different styles) are actually pretty big now this spring. From left to right: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Preen, Erdem, Rochas and Kenzo. (Photos from 'the Cut' app) Funny how a palace from the 17th century can be so trending. I'll definitely be trying out the florals-on-florals I guess, although the excessive use of gold is no my thing (and not my budget).