Versailles

Mum and Dad met us at the apartment on our first proper day in Paris and we walked to what would become our local train station, Javel. It pretty much runs along the Seine from our stop through the main areas in Paris, so it was very useful in terms of getting around and we soon became very adept at working out which train was ours, times, getting tickets from machines and so forth, but I digress. Also the Paris Statue of Liberty is nearby!

The ride from Javel to Versailles was about 20mins and we walked another 10mins or so to the palace. It was a cool day and the clouds looked threatening. It didn't take long to get tickets, which was great, we had heard awful things about queues...in fact so far we have hardly had to queue for anything.

The first view of the palace takes your breathe away, magnificent and opulent, larger than I even imagined, and soooo much gold.

We decided to check out the garden before the weather turned, which was a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it!

The gardens are remarkable and quite simply huge. Ponds, fountains, statues, hedges, all the sorts of things that make me smile. We were quite a distance away from the palace, yet we hadn't even touched the surface of what we could see. It started to rain lightly, so we put up umbrellas and continued wandering, it was simply magical. We decided to head back for the palace, and it got very windy and much harder rain, the kind you cannot walk against, nearly blew my long time trusty umbrella inside out, but she is made of tougher stuff than that.

We stood under the shelter at Versailles like drowned rats with everyone else with the realization we would be touring this amazing palace looking a little bit ordinary!!!

What would Marie Antoinette think?

Well, we had no choice, and looked better than some.

The palace starts with lots of rooms dedicated to paintings and models (with other memorabilia) of Versailles and showcasing it's history and physical change over the years. And then we went up a stunning staircase and walked along a corridor of statues and painted ceilings with windows overlooking the courtyards and other parts of the palace.

From there we entered the actual rooms of the palace and there are no words to describe the beauty, amazement and pieces of furniture and history that we saw. It was unrelenting, room after room, corridor after corridor, gold, marble, statues, paintings, ceilings and that was before we got to the hall of mirrors and the Kings chambers!!

I took many, many photos, it was very crowded and difficult at times to get close to what you wanted a closer look at, but what an experience.

We left in the mid afternoon, still drizzling with rain and a very cold wind. Hungry, we did a Maccas stop in the town of Versailles before heading back by train.

The weather still on the cold and ordinary side, we settled in for a quiet evening with Chinese takeaway. The local Chinese had a huge range of fresh dishes on offer, you choose and paid by the 100 grams, they would heat it or you could take it cold to heat yourself...very tasty.

And so completed our first full day in Paris, snuggled up warm in bed with the knowledge we were here for some time!

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