Get a Private Invitation to Tour Versailles Without the Crowds

The Palace of Versailles is one of the most visited landmarks in France, drawing in nearly ten million visitors annually, and that makes touring it a rather crowded experience. While there’s no denying that an in-person visit is truly the best way to take in the chateau’s architectural splendor, there’s now a second-best option: the new book Versailles: A Private Invitation by Guillaume Picon with photographs by Francis Hammond ($95, Flammarion). Hammond was given complete freedom to walk the halls and grounds of Versailles sans crowds, capturing not only the grand rooms of the palace, like Marie Antoinette’s boudoir and the Salon d’Aurore, but also intimate detail shots of architectural ornamentation and objects throughout the palace—some of which are not on view to the public. Picon’s text, in conjunction with these photographs, gives insight into both the French royal family and French history as a whole, making it a perfect book for any Francophile. Preview some of the gorgeous photography from the book below, then work on planning your next trip to Versailles. As Laurent Salomé, director of the National Museum of the Versailles and Trianon Palaces, writes in the preface, “A splendid book like this one makes it possible to relive, or imagine, the fleeting emotions that come one after another during a visit here.”