Day 59 20 May 2015 Paris-Versailles-Paris

This morning we caught a train.  Such a simple statement.  It should be called “The Epic of Elizabeth and Steve”

STEP 1 Go to the train station across the road.

STEP 2 Use yellow ticket machine to buy tickets. (unsuccessful)

STEP 3 Use blue ticket machine to buy tickets. (unsuccessful)

STEP 4 Use yellow ticket machine again to buy tickets. (unsuccessful)

STEP 5 Go to information centre who tell us where to go to buy tickets.  (Somewhat ironically he said that he didn’t speak English but he did say it very well and without a trace of an accent.)

STEP 6 We arrive at the next information centre who tell us where to purchase tickets.

STEP 7 Arrive at the ticketing office someone actually sells us tickets.

STEP 8 Go to the platform and have your ticket stamped.

STEP 9 Get on to the platform and have the train doors close on you 10 seconds after you board.

STEP 10 Try to leave the platform by rubbing your ticket over a piece of glass assuming that it was going to scan rather than insert the card. (I will be on their blooper rail for sure.  Luckily Elizabeth saw someone do it correctly otherwise I would still be there.

It was so easy really.

The train was crowded and after the first stop we got a seat.  The train we chose, was a much better option than the Metro, more convenient to get to, less crowded, more scenic with brief views of Paris. The walk from the station is about 15 minutes but it’s quite pleasant.  In fact it’s like a mini Paris and far more enticing. We found Versailles easily and there were only a handful of buses.  The line to get in wasn’t long so armed with our audioguides.  It was crowded initially as you go through the apartments/rooms with an AV presentation every 4 or 5 rooms.  These were very good and they have made good use of technology.  The rooms, ceilings and furniture were splendiferous (I need a thesaurus), the Hall of Mirrors allowed the crowd to disperse a little and we went through the King’s apartments and then the ones of the Queen’s.  Hers were more tasteful but it really it all was amazingly opulent.

One room had portraits of French generals and in another gallery were huge paintings of the battles that they fought.

After lunch we explored the gardens which to be honest left us a bit underwhelmed.  They were nice but unfortunately the fountains don’t usually run.  We did see L’Orangerie where the fruit trees are in planters and are put away every night if it is too cold.  There were a lot of school groups and we have seen them all the time from when we were first outside Rome.  I have to admire the teachers as it must be easy to lose them.  We will never know if Archie ever caught anyone in their game of tiggy.

By the time we left at about 3.30PM we knew it could have been more crowded but by going early we seem to miss that as there were a lot more buses parked by now. It did seem to be as well organized as possible but the height of Summer could be chaotic.  On returning to our hotel we recharged our camera batteries as well as ourselves with a coffee in the hotel foyer.

At 6.15PM we left for The Louvre as they are opened at night.  No long queues or mass crowds to contend with, except around the Mona Lisa.  We also located some galleries we missed on the Ancient Near east with new highlights of the massive winged Assyrian and the Law Code of Hammurabi, thank goodness we came back.