You can guarantee that I won't be checking out McDonalds in Paris, but this morning we did get up and hit the train a little earlier than normal to get to Versailles and there was a Starbucks as we got off the train... so here you go. The same coffee, atmosphere, and smells with french music and better pastries.
It was actually a nice day, considering it was supposed to rain all day. But, we had some rain showers and lots of clouds and wind, so keep that in mind as you enjoy the pictures and witty commentary. I took a lot of pictures today. You could take pictures anywhere, that is if you could get past the people, but no flash inside.
Versailles was interesting, beautiful, and at times frustrating. So read carefully, I'm going to give some pointers in case you ever visit. Since it would apparently be way too helpful to make these tips obvious to visitors on their website or via signs.
This is the line, we stood in this morning, and that is with the Paris Pass we bought that is supposed to help you skip lines! Yes, it is as long as it looks. The end of the line is the far left of the picture.
HINT 1! A really neat part of the many chateaus in France is the gardens are usually free. All the gardens at Versaille are free. So, go ahead and buy your tickets, but go to the left of the long line in the morning and go straight through to the gardens. Enjoy the gardens fully, including the Grand and Petit Trianon buildings, and go back to the main Chateau building toward the end of the afternoon. You'll have to show your tickets at the Grand and Petit Trianon buildings. There will still be a ton of people inside the house, but at least there won't be a line to get into the Chateau.
We had planned to head out to the gardens right away, and found out our line wait was a waste, 4 hours later when we came back. You can spend hours in the gardens. We spent a little over 6 hours at Versaille and about 5 of those were in the gardens and other buildings, outside the main house.
If you want to follow along, you can find an interactive map of Versaille and it's gardens, here. This first picture is the South Parterre.
Next, we have the Orangery and Swiss Lake.
After about 1 km of walking, depending on how much winding through the gardens one does, you get to the top of the Grand Canal. The canal begins with the Apollo Fountain. You can't tell from here but the Grand Canal is about 2 km long. There are even boats you can rent.
HINT 2! Again, I would guess half of the people that visit the estate never get beyond the Chateau. Come with your walking shoes on and really enjoy the estate. There are restaurants and areas you can get food to have a picnic. You could also bring your own food I think!
This is the view from the top of the Grand Canal back toward the Chateau. There is never a lack of statues!
The first building we went in was called the Grand Trianon. This building was built by Louis XIV to escape the pomp of the court. It was mostly the kings home. This was a pretty building, mostly done in marble.
The rooms were simpler than the large chateau, but still worthy of royalty.
The next building we enjoyed was the Petit Trianon. This building is connected to Marie Antoinette, as it was her favorite building and is known as the Queen's home. It had a very cute music room.
I also enjoyed the billiard's room. Both the Grand and Petit Trianon's had Billiard rooms.
The grounds surrounding these buildings were beautiful. There are many colors and varieties of tulips, plus lots of flowering trees, including the lovely constant smell of lilacs.
The gardens were amazing but then we came upon our favorite area. On the map it's called Queen's Hamlet. But it consists of the farm part of Versailles! The gardens here were a mix of vegetables and flowers; the buildings were so cute; and there were all sorts of animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, and more.
The Mill.
The Queen's house, look for the tulips growing out of the roof!
This is another building, that is just pretty, although I'm pretty sure those stairs aren't safe any more. We adore these purple flowering trees, they seem to be able to be trained as both a tree or a vine.
Note, we still aren't very good at taking pictures together,without having to concentrate to hard on holding it straight and pushing the button! I've given up carrying my camera, my phone seems to be taking pictures just fine.
Every building was surrounded by vegetable gardens all in different stages of growth.
There was an herb garden, complete with lots of dill and thyme; both are common herbs here.
Don't forget the rhubarb!
This small amount of pictures can't give any serious demonstration of the extreme number of sculptures in these gardens and throughout the chateaus. Kim and I have determined if you were a painter or sculpture from the 1600's through the 1800's you were kept very busy in France!
Finally we are headed into the actual Chateau of Versaille! I didn't take a lot of pictures because the people were very overwhelming. Tons of tour groups. The inside of Versaille is beautiful, There is a lot of marble and stone and the ceilings and walls are often painted, not draped in fabric like other chateaus. This chateau was lived in by king's until Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette were dragged out and later killed by their public. After that kings and queens used the Trianon houses, but the Chateau has been used as a museum since the 1800's.
Following are a couple of the painted ceilings.
An example of a wall...
After taking the train back to town and walking toward our apartment, we decided to have dinner in this lovely cafe right below us. I love these simple meals. Everything they serve in the cafe,down to the wine is organic. Right up my alley! This was a warm potato, artichoke, and cheese dish with a country ham tartine on their fresh made organic rye.
I finished dinner tonight with a lovely Raspberry tart.
I am finishing this post with a call out to my Orth cousins, from whom Ashley derives..... I think of you all every day, as every day I hear accordion music. For those that don't know, my Uncle Cliff played the accordion. The accordion is a very traditional french instrument and many of the French folk songs are played on it. It's very common on the street and on the trains to have someone playing the accordion and looking for money. So we'll end today, with a song I've heard many times already, enjoy by clicking on this link to open a YouTube song.
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