If you can withstand a two hour wait in the queue (on Sunday the 18th July) to purchase the ticket costing Euro 25 for the Palace and gardens there is no other place as beautiful as the garden of the palace of Versailles, just one hour from Paris .
It has beautiful gardens spread over 5 km sq or more, with fountains running at specific times.
One has to see it to believe that if human activity can destroy the nature it can also create the parks and gardens which will remind you about the glory of God.
However, I am not a total fan of King Louis XIV. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes, so driving many Huguenots (French Protestants) out of France. My own surname identifies me as being of Huguenot descent, but I do not know whether my ancestor came to Britain fleeing religious persecution or perhaps escaping creditors. In other words, was he a genuine asylum seeker or an economic migrant?
King Louis was a contemporary of our own King Charles II, who founded the Royal Society. This therefore makes the garden from the same time as Sir Isaac Newton. (History dates? Know your scientists and put those kings in their place!)
Physics Department
University of Reading
England