Up fairly early again this morning as we wanted to be at the Palace of Versailles (or as the French call it, Château de Versailles) before the crowds. Caught the Train for the 28km journey from Oberkampf. Again had to make one change but it was fairly painless. The only trouble we had was arriving on the train. Pretty well everyone else on the train was also heading for Versailles and when we got there the bus tours had also started early. Consequently, we did not escape the crowds (both outside and inside the buildings) or the queue to get in (even though we had our ticket) - this certainly detracted from the experience. It wasn’t helped any by the fact that there was also light rain.
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| Versailles |
The Palace was the centre of political power in France from 1682 to 1789. It was built by Louis XIV (the Roi Soleil – Sun King) when he decided to move his palace from the Louvre to the country. That power came to an end when the then royal family (Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette) was forced to return to Paris in October 1789 (and later executed by guillotine) at the beginning of the French Revolution.
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| The Hall of Mirrors |
It certainly is beautifully built and the decorations exquisite. It is now decorated as it was before the revolution.
Highlights: The king and queen’s bed chambers; the Royal Chapel; and the Hall of Mirrors.
Unfortunately by this time, the rain was pretty steady so we missed out on seeing much of the 800 hectares of grounds and gardens which we understand are quite beautiful.
We headed back to town and had a coffee while the rain eased. Then found a nice little galettes shop (recommended by lonely planet) for lunch. The rain was lighter after lunch so went for a walk around the ‘village’ of Versailles. Passed St Louis Cathedral and another Hotel de Ville (there's one in Paris too) where there was a vintage car meet in progress – some beautiful machines.
Back into Paris and a restful afternoon. Have booked here for the night we arrive back in Paris before catching the Eurostar back to London. It’s very reasonably priced at something like 85€ a night and very convenient for both busses and train. It’s tucked down a bit of a backstreet but is fine on the inside – clean and tidy and the staff members are friendly.
Walked up the street and had Chinese for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow we pick up the car and head towards Mont-St-Michael.
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| The Queen's Bed Chamber |
Highlights: The king and queen’s bed chambers; the Royal Chapel; and the Hall of Mirrors.
Unfortunately by this time, the rain was pretty steady so we missed out on seeing much of the 800 hectares of grounds and gardens which we understand are quite beautiful.
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| The Gardens |
We headed back to town and had a coffee while the rain eased. Then found a nice little galettes shop (recommended by lonely planet) for lunch. The rain was lighter after lunch so went for a walk around the ‘village’ of Versailles. Passed St Louis Cathedral and another Hotel de Ville (there's one in Paris too) where there was a vintage car meet in progress – some beautiful machines.
Back into Paris and a restful afternoon. Have booked here for the night we arrive back in Paris before catching the Eurostar back to London. It’s very reasonably priced at something like 85€ a night and very convenient for both busses and train. It’s tucked down a bit of a backstreet but is fine on the inside – clean and tidy and the staff members are friendly.
Walked up the street and had Chinese for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow we pick up the car and head towards Mont-St-Michael.
