“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford,” or so said esteemed writer Samuel Johnson. From 18th century London to now, this mantra still applies.

The famed Palace of Versailles had a comparatively modest beginning as a hunting lodge built by Louis XIV in 1624. It would evolve, of course, into an emblem of the absolute rule of the Ancien Régime – and a visible symbol of the wealth that supported it. Located to the west of Paris in what is now a moneyed suburb, the hunting chateau was originally surrounded by rural countryside. An unusual place for a seat of power, perhaps, and far from the King’s original residence in the Louvre, but it was an undoubtedly beautiful setting.

There are few buildings anywhere in the world that conjure up the romance and majesty of the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur. The palace shimmers in the heat of the sun, rising serenely above Lake Pichola, its gleaming white walls reflected in the still water. Lazy speedboats chauffer guests to the palace steps and into the tranquillity of its 18^th century courtyard.