A day at Versailles

 

Day 5

October 5 – Paris – Versailles – Eating, shopping, Golf karting

Weather – mostly cloudy, cool to warm 11-21c

Note - I'm having some issues with photo's so I'll post them tomorrow - and hopefully get Katie and Lucy to post as well

Another early start to the day – this time, safe in the knowledge that we would actually be touring the Palace of Versailles. Our uber out to the Pullman hotel, where the tour was to leave from, turned out to be driven by somewhat of a tour guide. He took us on a more scenic route and so we got to drive through the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was executed (Although it was called Place de la revolution then). I was blow away at the size of the Place, really giving me a different perspective that you don’t get from the art depicting the events. While we didn’t get a chance to drive down the Champs-Elysées, we did get an excellent view of the Arc De Triomphe. Keeping with the tour guide theme, our driver took us through the tunnel where Princess Di was killed in a car crash in 1997 – which was pretty surreal to be driving through the same spot I had seen on TV so many times. I think getting an uber just to drive around Paris could be the way to go, just to get in some of the sights. I’d still want to go back and walk around the Place de la Concorde, for example; but at least I’ve got an idea of the layout, how long I’d need to spend there etc…

This time the Pullman hotel didn’t seem as chaotic, and there was a much younger crowd – must have been pensioner day yesterday. It was however, still mostly American tourists – this must be a tour group that caters to the US. We were chatting to a few friendly people from Florida and Texas, and we got some very good advice about Amsterdam which is always nice. The Bus ride was great – we got seats up the top right in the front – so we had a great view on the way out of Paris. Paris is not Geographically that big, however it is densely populated, so I was amazed at how quickly we went from cobble stone roads, claustrophobically surrounded by buildings, to being out in a more rural setting.

Arriving at Versailles, you really get a sense of its enormity. The buildings surrounding the car park are just the stables – and they look palatial enough on their own. Once off the bus we were gathered with our tour guid Jacque, we had ear phones in and a little receiver so we could hear everything that was being explained without having to be too close. Arriving early and just out of season allowed us to avoid the big crowds. We were told that during the peak periods, the lines stretch for hundreds of meters, we on the other hand had none of that to contend with, and were basically just waiting at the door until the time on our ticket came up. At 9:30 sharp we were through the doors and into the Palace. I don’t think any of my photo’s really do it justice, and for a lot of the tour I didn’t bother as you just can’t get a sense of perspective – or maybe I’m just not very good at taking photos… Anyway, I will say that we all enjoyed the tour and the commentary from our Guide.  Again, for me, it really was special to just get a chance to walk in the halls, having talked about them so much in history classes over the years. Now to have an opportunity to walk in those spaces, it gave me a new appreciation of the events and people involved.

The tour included about an hour to walk through the huge gardens, apparently, it’s over 2000 acres, and there are other palaces on the grounds. Due to Katies foot issue, we decided to hire a golf cart and drive around the loop – this was a smart move with Lucy as well, as we could really motor around to see the grounds. We stopped off for a rest break at one of the restaurants on site, and purchase some ham and cheese baguettes and croissants, which we ate while zooming along the grounds in our zippy little golf cart. Seemed a little sacrilegious, but it did the job!

All three of us were pretty tired when we got back on the bus, and we unanimously decided to head back to the apartment for a break before we did anything else. Once cleaned up, Lucy and I headed out into the sunshine to walk along the streets in our area (around Rue Montorgueil), Lucy convinced me that it was hot enough for ice-cream and we purchased some very very good ice-cream from a place called Grom. Weird name, amazing ice-cream. Lucy got a large serve that she was to share with Katie, although not as much as I was expecting made it home, so Katie got a smaller share…

Katie and Lucy then decided to watch Ratatouille while I went for a nap. Once refreshed we decided to keep it local and went out for dinner at Le Compas, a nice little brasserie about 100m from our apartment. I had the flank steak Katie had the duck – both were very good. The wines were ok, I ordered a Bordeaux that was a little bit soft for my liking and then a Cote du Rhone, which was probably a bit better than Ok. I have to admit, that for the most part the wine offered by the glass in the restaurants we’ve visited hasn’t been all that great. None have been bad, however, none have really blown me away. Perhaps you need to buy the wine by the bottle? Might have to try that….

By the end of dinner we were all exhausted and ready for bed. It was another early night, with a day for travel to Reims to come.