Josy à Paris III: Versailles

To my utter discontent, I woke up feeling even worse than yesterday night. I was feeling nauseous and light-headed, and our plans for an early start to Versailles were delayed so that I could sleep some more. The thought of food was off-putting. I must have eaten too much the day before or had some kind of protein overload since I rarely eat meat in Florence out of sheer laziness.

Luckily the extra sleep helped a lot and we were able to leave the house before noon. Pleuve and I took the RER (rapid-transit train) to Versailles, and while waiting for our train to arrive I immediately fell in love with the RER announcement sound which goes something like "da, da da DA da" in a human voice. (N.B. After ten minutes of Googling I still can't find it. You'll just have to trust me on its cuteness.)

All the while, Pleuve and I were pondering over how long the crowds would be. I told her that we should picture a lineup slinking back to Paris (i.e. impossibly long) so that when we got there it would look like child's play. They ended up being the longest she had ever seen there, but the line moved very quickly and in less than 15 minutes we were going through security.

Golden gates to Versailles

Good news for EU citizens under the age of 26: admission is free! I would later come to learn that Parisian museums and sights are very financially-friendly to this group, of which I am a member!

Tourists wander around the entrance to Château de Versailles

The Château de Versailles is huge, but not as enormous as the gardens (which I believe could easily hold a city or two). Tourists have access to only a part of the palace and it was so crowded that at times it was difficult to get a clear shot! Here are a few of my favourite pictures of the interior:

Chapel

The Hall of Mirrors

The Queen's Bedroom

After about an hour and a half of listening to our free audioguides in the château, it was time to venture out into the gardens. During high season, you need to pay to enter the touristy part of the gardens because they put on a fountain show. Others can enter for free outside the gated sections or during low season. With my EU discount I paid 6€ instead of 8€, but really all you are paying for is the water bill since all they do is turn the normally-idle fountains on.

The Gardens of Versailles and the Fountain of Apollo

It felt like summer outside and we quickly felt exhausted due to our spent concentration and the heat. It was clear that we would not be able to see everything, so we decided to visit the Grand Trianon. We ignored the golf cart rentals and tourist train options on the way.

The Grand Trianon

This little summer home for Louis XIV had its own gardens that were also massive. Pleuve mentioned how strange it was that a king would have a vacation home on his home's own estate. I totally agree. It would be like calling the doghouse in your backyard your cabin. Except these were the farthest things from cabins.

Eventually we made our way back closer to the palace, just in time for the 5:20pm show at the Fountain of Neptune. It was so not worth it since all they did was play classical music and turn on the water. I am not joking. The water spouts didn't even move to the music. They were stationary. People started to leave even though it was scheduled to last 10 minutes.

The Fountain of Neptune

At one point an ambulance drove by the fountain and I told Pleuve that someone must have had a heart attack caused by the beauty of the show. Whether or not that was the true cause, we will never know. But we did know that it was time to go home so that we could make it in time for our dinner plans.

Gates of Versailles: my favourite picture of the day

We headed to Pleuve's friend's apartment in Le Marais for an aperitivo (foie gras, yum!) before heading to Le Petit Marché for dinner, a French-Asian fusion restaurant using organic produce. I ordered two appetizers since I wasn't very hungry: croustillants de chèvre (goat cheese potstickers) and tuna tartare.

Croustillants du chèvre

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very Parisian, laidback and cool. Outside, people waiting for a table were leisurely standing and chatting, holding a glass of wine in one hand and perhaps a cigarette in the other. Oh, and the bartender and one of the waiters were very attractive. I'm just saying.