Versailles

Sunrise in Paris

Very early start, dark and a frost outside. Very excited about a whole day at Versailles! Metro into Tuileries to meet our bus, then about 45 min trip to the city of Versailles, about 12 miles from Paris. The bus was divided into several different tours - people going it alone, half day trips, then also divided into different languages. We ended up with about 15 in our morning tour inside the palace, and only 8 for the rest of the day.


Ornate ceiling in Versailles Palace

Words can't properly express the grandeur, opulence and yet somehow inappropriate greed of the palace. Beautiful architecture, design, decorations. Hard to put into perspective for one family - whether royal or self appointed dictator. Originally 2000 rooms - how ridiculous! The only way to get the most out of the day was just to step back from judging and enjoy.





After touring the palace we had time to wander the grounds, then off to our pre-booked lunch. 4 courses, absolutely scrummy. We sat with a brother and sister from Peru, and an older gentleman from Tokyo. They all had little English, we had less of their languages, so a fairly amusing time was had. We all understood each others' versions of 'cheers' tho!


A short walk to the Grand Trianon - a palace built by the king so he could take his family on holiday. Much less gold gilt.

Then to the Petit Trianon, again built by the king - this time for his current 'favourite'. Eventually taken over by Marie Antoinette and beautifully re decorated in soft pinks and blues.

Marie Antoinette's playhouse

Then the most gorgeous walk through parkland to Marie Antoinette's toy farmlet. Blue sky, lots of leaves on the ground, autumn colours, some frost still in places, and we could see our breath. Just perfect weather. The little farmlet was exquisite, and Amelia's and my imaginations soared thinking about Marie Antoinette playing there with her children.
A walk back to the bus and home through rush hour traffic - crazy habits here, I'm never driving in Paris!

What a brilliant day!