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For a long time I was confused about bronze Chinese mirrors of that time frame. When seen in a museum or on the internet, almost always all that's shown is the ornate back[1], which as a child I took for the reflecting surface and would try to theorize about how they could function that way. Only rarely is the actual obverse shown, heavily tarnished by age and unusable. This[2] is the only photo I can find of a bronze mirror actually used as a mirror.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_mirror#China [2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisckemp/3810835438

Here's a 360 video of the hall of mirrors in Versailles mentioned in the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0-w-96KqK8
Actually, this video is much better quality and without the crowd of tourists. https://youtu.be/C4tgeO5A4As?t=499
heh, funny quote I heard from an American tour group at Versailles: "This place makes George Washington's house look like a small apartment"
Even though I've been to Versailles twice, I had to read that article to realize that the point of the mirrors was to see out the windows across from them. The author is correct. It is absolutely impossible to get that impression when the room is full of other people behind you!
The one time I visited Versailles was enough to convince me to never return, unless I could get some kind of special tour. I've never been to an attraction with such a crush of a crowd. It was impossible to stop to look at anything, because the crowd was so thick that it had a flow to it that dragged you along.

I'd consider returning if they limited the max in there at a time to perhaps half what it was, which I think is the most you could have in there without making the experience hellish, but otherwise, I tell everyone to just go look at the garden and skip going in. It's really cool, but you can't enjoy it. Just do the garden and Petit Trianon and such—those are worth the train ride, skip the palace proper. Go to one of the less-visited palaces or castles within a similar range of Paris if you want to see royal opulence and get to actually see it and not just get shoved through it (it's also the most inclined to violence I've felt in a long damn time—some people were pushing their way through the crowd with enough regularity that one was constantly being pushed, bumped, and jostled, and god damn did they really deserve an elbow or a "misplaced" foot)

All true! I almost lost a friend in that crowd crush and there's no way to turn around and go against the crowd. They've set it up for a one way crush of human bodies.

You are right that gardens are phenomenal. My favorite thing was Les Bains d'Apollon[0]. I don't even like sculpture and its one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen in my life. Gorgeous marble and a waterfall around it. Truly a hidden gem out there in the garden.

[0] https://www.gpsmycity.com/attractions/bosquet-des-bains-dapo...

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