Versailles

We got up the next morning and got on a train to Versailles.  I had thought it would cost more than a regular metro ticket, but we didn’t see any ticket stations that were different than normal, and the people I asked on the train platform either didn’t know or said our ticket was fine.

It wasn’t.

We were wanting to get to Versailles right as it opened after hearing about long lines taking a lot of time (from Rick Steves’ books and from the Forbes when we ran into them in Florence).  So we got all the way there (takes about an hour), and when we tried to put our ticket in to have the get open to let us out, it wouldn’t open.  We went over to the window and asked how we could buy a ticket that would let us out and the woman said we couldn’t.  As in, we would have to go all the way back to Paris, buy a ticket, and then come all the way back.

But she let us through the gate without having to go back.  I don’t know if she was kidding (Stephen thought she was) about having to go back, but it was definitely not funny.  If she wasn’t kidding, perhaps it was the look of shock and frustration that made her take pity on us and open the gate.  Either way, we made it out.

Unfortunately, it was raining.  We stopped and bought an umbrella at the corner shop on our way in.  We toured the inside of the villa first and it was pretty much empty.  Most of the time we were in the rooms by ourselves, which was nice.  No crazy tour groups to have to get around/through.

Outside

The famous hall of mirrors, this is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed

It was neat to see a picture in a museum of the signing of the treaty after WWI

and remember having been here!

By the time we went out to the gardens it had stopped raining (hooray).  It was a special day where they turn on the fountains and play classical period music throughout the garden, so we had to pay a little extra to get in.  We had our Paris museum pass, so we hadn’t had to pay to get in in the first place.  (Well, we had to pay for the pass, so technically we had to pay, but we didn’t have to pay at the door).

The fountains didn’t come on until a little later, but it was nice to have the music.  The speakers were hidden, so it was just music coming from all over.  Stephen was determined to find the speaker though.

He found it :-)

See it?

A cat hunting something

I really like this picture (Stephen took it)

We walked out to Le Grand Trianon, which was a small palace built as an escape from the large palace. (Go figure).  There were a bunch of firemen in dress uniforms, trucks, and the firemen band there as we walked up.  At first we thought it was a funeral, but everyone was happy and taking lots of pictures.  So we think it was a graduating class or something like that.

We went on to Le Petit Trianon.  Originally it was for Louis XV’s mistress, but Louis XVI gave it to Marie Antoinette so she could have an escape from the Versailles glitz and glamor.  She had her own garden, complete with its own village.  She liked to “pretend” to be one of the ordinary people, although she never actually did any of the work.

Baby Goose!

Part of Marie Antoinette's "village"

It started to rain a little as we walked back and we stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants by the Grand Canal.  (Why go to Venice when you can build your own canal and import gondolas and gondoliers from Venice?)  My food was not what I was expecting (strike 2 - the night before had been the fish with eyeballs and everything).  I ordered what sounded like a chef salad.  Which it pretty much was.  But the dressing was like a really strong mustard and there was a lot of it.  I ended up eating the meat off of it with the bread that we got with the meal.  Oh well.  The fountains were on, and it totally changes the whole feel of the gardens.

Before fountains

After fountains

It rained pretty good as we walked back to the train station, but we were able to go back to the hotel and get warm and dry (and take a nap) before heading out for our last dinner in Paris.  We ate at one of the cafes on Rue Cler, right by our hotel.  They had the best creme brulee I’ve every tasted.  So good.  And so nice to have a meal that I was sure about after dinner the night before and lunch that day not going as planned.  For being in places we didn’t speak the language, I figure 2 meals of unusual food isn’t too bad.  

Some random notes about Paris:

Our hotel, Hotel Leveque, was one of the places I was really excited about staying at.  The location was wonderful, and the room itself wasn’t too bad, but the bathroom was incredibly tiny.  Some of the Italian bathrooms had been small, but this was crazy.  The shower door only opened enough so you could barely squeeze through.  It would hit the toilet, so you’d be pressing against the cold tile wall or the cold glass door trying to get in or out of the shower.  And once you were in, there wasn’t even enough room to stick both elbows out.  It was crazy.  And the woman at the front desk who was there when we checked in and most of the time during the day was less than helpful.  And pretty rude when you would try to ask questions.  I’d heard rumors about the French not being as friendly, but she was pretty much the only one who fit that stereotype.  And lastly, you had to pay for the internet, which was a bummer.  1 euro for an hour or 5 euros for 24 hours.  Boo.

Itty bitty hotel elevator

Us inside the elevator

But on the plus side, we would walk out the door and on to a street known for its markets, with fresh produce (and really good fruit), bread, pastries, and all sorts of other stuff.

The next morning we headed for Normandy.