Let Them Eat Cake
Fifteen Courses at Versailles

We've always been fans of the ancien régime (those hundred-room palaces put your condo to shame), but since the revolution, the Versailles scene has been deader than disco.

Fortunately, royal hedonism is making a comeback...for one meal, at least.

Held at Versailles next September, The Dinner of the Chefs is your chance to live like a Louis. In the banquet hall of Le Grand Trianon, Louis XIV's private retreat, you'll dine through 15 courses while sipping world-class wine from Baccarat crystal and taking in Chopin from the local string section. And in the kitchen, you've got 16 of the best and brightest chefs from around the world, including Alain Passard of Paris landmark L'Arpège and BBC celeb Gary Rhodes. Between them, they've got 40 Michelin stars. Think of it as Top Chef Versailles.

The evening opens with a candlelit reception in Marie Antoinette's private courtyard, hosted by a former French First Lady. At the dinner itself, each chef will grace the hall to explain his signature dish, so you can chat with Charlie Trotter about his braising technique (or penchant for Ayn Rand). And after you've put away your fifteenth plate, you'll watch fireworks over the palace—forgetting all about that $30,000 price tag.

After all, the king never looks at the check.