The palace of Versailles is the largest royal residence in the world. It almost tires one to look at the enormous frontage with its great wings, and the waste of gravel, extending over several acres outside the gates and railings, gives a dreary appearance to the town side of the palace. It takes a whole day to go over the buildings and the park, and on a tour such as this it may be wiser to leave the historic palace for some other occasion. There is, unfortunately, no opportunity of including any adequate description of the buildings and their story here, but the literature obtainable in handy form on the spot is amply sufficient for all. It was Louis XIV. who made Versailles the Court residence instead of St. Germain, and his successors, Louis XV. and Louis XVI., continued to spend vast sums on the palace, until it became the wilderness of great apartments through which the tourist is conducted at the present day. The two small residences in the park--the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon--were built for Marie de Maintenon and Madame du Barry, and were appreciated as retreats from the immensities of the palace. ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE is a delightfully situated town commanding beautiful views across a great loop of the Seine towards Paris. The famous terrace by the side of the park and above the river has a wonderful prospect towards the east, wherein the capital appears on a bright, sunny day as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The château, built of red brick and stone, belongs to the thirteenth, fourteenth, and sixteenth centuries, and has only just been subjected to an excess of restoration, leaving the exterior with the freshness of a new building. The earliest portion of the château is the chapel, a beautiful example of the style prevalent in the reign of St. Louis (IX.). This was spared when, in 1539, François I. ordered the famous Pierre Chambiges to rebuild the medieval castle. Henri II. continued the work, but the form of the letter <f>D</f> in the plan probably has no connection with his beloved Diana de Poitiers, as the plans were prepared several years earlier. SECTION XXVI ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE TO GISORS, 37½ MILES (60 KILOMETRES) DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE Kil. Miles. =St. Germain= to Conflans-Ste. Honorine =11= 7 =Conflans= to Pontoise =8= 5 =Pontoise= to Marines =14= 8¾ =Marines= to Chaumont-en-Vexin =18= 11¼ =Chaumont-en-Vexin= to Trie-Château =5= 3 =Trie-Château= to Gisors =4= 2½ NOTES FOR DRIVERS =Pontoise to Bouconvilliers.=--On this section of the road there are several stretches of paving, and at the cross-roads just beyond Lierville (a village just off the road on the left) it is best to go to the right through =Chaumont-en-Vexin=, to avoid the paved road that goes direct to Gisors.