We had made plans the night before to meet Brian and Kakki at the Metro at 8amĀ to get the train out of Paris to Versailles (pronounced Ver-sigh). Interestingly, the dawn and dusk in Europe are much longer than in NZ. It literally takes hours to get dark, and hours to get light again! From the first hint of dawn, till when it is fully light, seems to take around 3 hours.
As an aside, it was interesting when we went from Calais to London, because after 4 weeks of not understanding conversations around me, it was weird to suddenly understand everything around me again as I’d got used to not comprehending them! Then after a week of understanding conversations on the street, we were back in France, and I was once again surrounded by a language I didn’t know. And this time not only was Mike speaking French, but Brian and Kakki were too! Ha! š So, our tickets were purchased (in French!) and we boarded the train for Versailles,Ā the amazing palace that Louis XIV built and where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI lived.
At one of the Metro stops we saw this familiar artefactĀ from NZ:
After a 30 minute train ride on which we listened to Rick Steves guide to VersaillesĀ – aka Kakki’s Travel Bible š – we were at Versailles. And wow, what a lot of gold was there, and that was only on the outside!!!
This is a place where all that glitters, really ISĀ gold!
Then there was the inside.
TheĀ hall of mirrors was just as amazing as you’d expect!
The king’s public bed was on show, this is where members of the public could stand behind the barrier and watch King Louis XIV “wake up”. Really!
Next to his bedroom was hisĀ “private” dining room where, again, the public could watch him eat and marvel at him (supposedly!).
By now we thought it was time we stopped for a bite ourselves, so we stopped in the tearooms which had some royal delicacies to sample.
Outside again, we entered the Mesdames (the king’s sister’s) apartments.
The fabric on the walls, bedding, curtains etc were changed for summer and winter. This is the summer version, the winter version was a thick velvet.
The library had a low ceiling because it had another library for the other sister above it. Mesdame Adelaide had all her books bound in red leather, while her sister Victoire had all hers bound in blue.
After going through the Mesdames apartments we went outside to the gardens. These gardens must be one of the largest in the world covering 850 hectares. Absolutely spectacular!
These two must be tourists. š
The view looking back atĀ the back of the palace:
Looking down the length of the gardens.
Brian’s serious photography pose! š
And here is what he was photographing, the bird sitting on the hand of the statue. Very cool! It sat there for some time.
We visited the outdoor ballroom, which used to have a marble floor:
Brian and Kakki gave it a whirl!
The musical fountain was the thing I enjoyed the most at Versailles. The fountains were choreographed perfectly to the music and changed often. It was absolutely beautiful!!!
Looking back at Versailles from quarter of the way down the gardens.
Loved this little grove, very pretty!
A plan of part of the gardens.
Then we visited the Grand Trianon (at the top of the map above). The Grand Trianon was built in 1687 as a getaway, small palace for when the royals wanted a break from Versailles. Although it was smaller, it was still pretty sumptuous!
The drawing room, with tables for playing cards etc..
Just imagine sleeping in a room like this!!!
It also had its own lovely set of gardens.
Both inside and outside of this palace had this unusual pink marble:
I thought it was really pretty, until Brian (who is a cardiologist) told usĀ that it looks exactly like human tissue in a histology slide under a microscope. Nice. Thanks for that Brian. Ha! š
This verandah joined two wings of the Grand Trianon.
Inside there wereĀ histology slidesĀ on the floor, the fireplace, the walls… š
And more beautifully decorated rooms.
And a “small” gallery.
The light fixtures were beautiful.
The balustrades outside weren’t too bad either!
Only one story high, unlike Versailles!
Then we walked through more beautiful gardens, trying to find our way out!
Eventually we got to the Petit Trianon, built in 1768 by Louis XV – an even smaller palace which was a getaway from the Grand Trianon. š
Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to go in and see it. We wanted to be back in the main gardens to see the fountains which were only going between 3 and 5pm. On the other side ofĀ the Petit TrianonĀ Marie Antoinette had a hamlet built in 1787 to get away from the Petit Trianon, Grand Trianon, and Versailles. š Her hamlet has a total of 11 houses and looks idyllic, but we just didn’t have the time to see it. It was a fully functioning farm for the Queen who wanted to live like a peasant. I was interested to see what her version of “living like a peasant” was, but alas it was not to be. You really need 2 days to see everything at Versailles!
So we headed back to the fountains. This was the Apollo fountain:
So many beautiful fountains here, we didn’t see them all, we just went for the highlights!
And greenery!
These ornamental plants were right around the entire circumference of this fountain!
At 4pm the daylight was already beginning to dwindle.
The statistics on the brochure for the Versailles fountains are staggering:
55 pools & fountains
600 water features
Closed circuit water consumption of 4500 square metres per hour
A team of 13 fountain engineers
A 35km piping system UNCHANGED since the 17th century.
Wow.
This water feature was interesting, it looked as though it had been carved from the rock. We don’t know if the rock was real, or man-made!
BeautifulĀ fountains, and gardens, and perfectly formed bushes and hedges!
The big finale at the end was the Neptune fountain, with it’s last showing of the year.
By now it was 5.45 and time to head back to Paris. We said goodbye to the amazing palace of Versailles.
And headed back down the road to the train station.
Menu du Chateau? Thanks, but no thanks. š
What an amazing day in an amazing place with amazing people! It was extra special to share the experience with Brian and Kakki! When we arrived back in Paris, we said our goodbyes becauseĀ the next day was theĀ last day in Paris for both of us and we decided to go our separate ways for our final day there. What a wonderful time we had with these two wonderful people!!!
āTravel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.ā ā Anonymous