Matt and I stayed for two nights and three days. Since we’d never been, it was the perfect amount of time for us. However, the simple experience of the Airelles Versailles for one night would be worth it.

Upon checking-in on Sunday, Matt and I went straight to afternoon tea. Tea, breakfast, a personal butler – along with several private tours of the palace and grounds – were all included with our stay.

The afternoon tea experience included an assortment of teas. I’d never drunk so much tea in my life! Coffee, espresso beverages, a variety of French pastries and hot chocolate were also served. The hot chocolate was made the way Marie Antoinette sipped hers! Click here for the historical accurate recipe.

It’s VERY important to note that Airelles Versailles had platters of Laduree macaroons everywhere we looked – which was a delicious touch to our stay.

After our tea, Matt and I jumped into a hotel-provided golf cart and headed off to explore the infamous Gardens of Versaille. The gardens were beyond impressive. You can see pictures of us touring the gardens in this blog post.

With over 372 statues, 55 water features and 600 fountains, you could easily get lost in The gardens were beyond impressive. . Each corner feels like its own private entity of a much larger picture – with thousands of plants and trees planted over the decades.

During our stay, we didn’t just get extended access to the gardens. We were given two private tours a day!

The first private guided tours was after breakfast. It featured an intimate look through the châteaus located in the gardens of Versaille. These châteaus were once the private homes of many French and European royalty. They include Marie-Antoinette’s Petit Trianon private home where she lived for most of her time at Versailles, Petit Trianon.

The second tour took place at dusk, after the guided tour of the Palace of Versailles had closed to the public – which meant we had the palace all to ourselves. It was a magical experience! I’m excited to share pictures with you in my next post.

When considering what day to stay at Airelles Versailles, I would HIGHLY recommend Monday.

The entire palace and gardens are closed to the public on Mondays. This means you can not only explore the palace by yourself – but the gardens too! As a photographer, this made getting ‘the shot’ so easy because I never had to worry about people walking by.

Matt and I saw bits of the movie Jeanne du Barry being filmed. The upcoming film features Johnny Depp. At the time they had not announced the movie, so it was very hush-hush. But, when we found out it was Mr. Depp on set – I almost died of excitement!

If you’d like to see video footage of our stay, head over to my Instagram page. I’ll be sharing plenty of Instagram Reels starting in February of our stay. The photos simply just don’t do it justice.