The Palais à Versailles is the most beautiful man-made place I have ever been to. Every part of the building is art, there is never too little light, which I would guess stems from the lack of artificial light at the time of construction.  Louis kinda gave them just a blank cheque to create something beautiful. Looking back at the palace from the gardens you get the full sense of how much labour went into the construction and upkeep for centuries. The scale is hard to grasp even when you are there.  There are thousands of people there and it’s very crowded, but the space never feels small or claustrophobic. I had been in a fair number of opulent churches and royal things at that point but nothing came close, and still hasn’t.