Versailles

Another excursion outside Paris for us today; a visit to Versailles. The weather was again fantastic - not a cloud in the sky - and the golden gates of the palace shone brightly as we approached. Our timed tickets stood us in good stead, and we were soon inside the palace, but it was busy and we had to shuffle around the rooms at a fairly slow pace with the crowds. It was interesting in an over the top way; Louis XIV certainly had a high opinion of himself as his many portraits conveyed - he had himself painted many times as a general riding a horse, a Roman emperor, and of course an opulently robed king. The highlight was the hall of mirrors which must have been unfeasibly expensive to create, and unique in its time. (And another Emily in Paris location - where she attended a fashion show!) I was glad to get back out into the fresh air though, and pleased that the crowds quickly thinned out in the large gardens. We walked around and admired the long avenues and beautiful fountains, one of which had classical music accompanying its water jets. We had lunch in an outdoor café and relaxed beside the lake. It was all so unfeasibly beautiful that it was hard to take in; the palace was so grand, the lake was Nile green, the grass so bright, the sky so very blue. We decided to do something that we did on our honeymoon to Paris thirty-eight years ago; we hired a boat and went rowing on the lake. It was great fun and although James nobly did most of the rowing, I took a turn at it and it all came back to me, from my childhood days rowing on Lake Menteith. We walked onwards to Le Grand Trianon, which I loved. I particularly loved its pink marble on the outside walls, although James thinks that it has faded from red to pink over the centuries. It’s very pretty and if I ever build myself a palace it will definitely be pink! The decor was simpler than that of the Palace of Versailles but still very plush. And it had attractive gardens too with its own big pond. At that point I was getting a bit footsore so I persuaded James to spend nine euros on two tickets for the little tourist bus that ploughs a triangular route between the three palaces. When it arrived at Le Petit Trianon it had only travelled a couple of hundred yards so I temporarily regretted getting the tickets. I remembered Le Petit Trianon and the Hameau de la Reine from our honeymoon, we enjoyed revisiting it and as a bonus it was very quiet because it was now after six o’clock and most people had gone home. We took lots of photos and saw goslings and marvelled at the cute but foolish pretend “peasant houses” and enjoyed walking along the little winding paths. We arrived back at the gate of Le Petit Trianon just as a little tourist bus arrived and we jumped on using our still valid tickets. And how glad I was now that we had bought those tickets! It was a good 3 km along dusty roads back to the main palace, well worth the lift for my tired feet. By the time we made our way back out of the gilded gates at the front of the palace it was five past seven - just over EIGHT HOURS since we had arrived! Back in St Germain des Prés we had a delicious dinner and then went straight back to the hotel, dusty and tired!