France: Château de Compiègne
From the outside this palace – Château de Compiègne- is rather underwhelming. Louis XV built it as his summer residence but it eventually fell into disarray and got almost gutted. Then Napoleon decided to make Château de Compiègne for himself what Versailles was for Bourbons and restored and enlarged. A lot of lavish furniture and decorations were brought in and are now on display at the extensive museum inside. Still, it ain’t Versailles by a long stretch.
