The best example of how Louis XIV's absolute power was limited is A. His reliance on Jean Baptiste Colbert to make reforms for him. While Louis XIV is often cited as a quintessential example of absolute monarchy, his dependence on advisers like Colbert for economic reforms indicates that he did not wield complete control over all aspects of governance, thus suggesting a limitation on his absolute power.
The other options, such as the establishment of a standing army, the entertainment and observation of the nobility at Versailles, and the expansion of the state bureaucracy, are more indicative of his consolidation and exercise of power rather than limitations on it.