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Paris, France

The mood on the subway this morning was really sombre. You could feel that many were affected by the tragedy yesterday, possibly thinking the same thoughts as us that it could just as easily have been them.

We arrived in Versailles and made the short 5 minute walk to the palace to see a long line, no worries we had booked our tickets on line to avoid the queues so went up to the top to find the booked tickets entry, only to be told the long line was it! Really? The queue was so long it took us an hour to get in which was ridiculous for a pre booked entry. We estimated there were about 2 thousand people constantly in the queue. I thought I would use the time to load photos onto travelpod but the connection was so slow it timed out even on one photo which really annoyed me. Our German SIM provider was nice and quick but this one in France is hideously slow one minute to fast the next or sometimes won’t even connect.

I was expecting great things from Versailles as it is reported as the most spectacular of its style and one that many other palaces are modelled on. However, I found it quite a let down and not as opulent and sparkly as Linderhof or Potsdam’s Summer Palace. It is very grand in size, and for its time that said a lot about wealth. Most rooms have paintings on the ceilings but they seem very similar and the rooms are the same theme and colours except for the Queens quarters which are a bit more feminine and frilly with lighter colours.

The chandeliers are not elaborate, infact the simplier palace on Isola Bella had far more beautiful decorations, glass, and cermanics. It also lacked a lot of furniture and chattels which made it a bit bare. King Ludwig may have used it as inspiration but he had far more class, flair, and taste I think.

The gardens are huge – acres and acres with tall trees separating sections like a maze. Each section had a theme and perhaps a small water feature but these too were very simple. So that too was disappointing especially as we paid extra to go on a Saturday when the fountains are actually turned on. One fountain in particular is only turned on once a day for 10 minutes as it uses so much water. We waited all afternoon for that and it was quite miss-able.

There is a cafe on site which is ridiculously expensive – €9 for an eclair, €12 for a coffee, and €22 for croque monsieur. So a tip for lunch is to go out the gate after you have done the main palace and have lunch in town as there is no security check or real queue for the garden section or secondary palaces.

My summary on Versaille is that if its the only palace in Europe you go to see it is nice enough, but if you are fortunate enough to choose there are far more elaborate, intimate and interesting ones. I wonder if we would have enjoyed a visit to the Loire Valley better or if the chateaus are over rated too? Perhaps next visit ….

Poor Vernon got another migrane while we were there, we think it is neck related and we managed it ok with panadol and some time out in the shade with a massage. He gets very frustrated and can’t tie it down to any particular trigger. At least they are not as bad as he used to get which set him back for 3 days at a time.

When we left at the end of the fountain show, so did nearly everyone else resulting in the train being full to the seams. It was still close to 30 degrees and humid and some people had rivetts of sweat running off them making the trip very unpleasant to say the least. The journey lasted 45 minutes and we didn’t have a seat for any of it, I dont understand why they don’t have air conditioning in a country which does get very warm in summer.

We decided to hop off and try the Latin quarter again for dinner before popping across to the Notre Damme at sunset to see the gargoyles. We actually picked a pretty good restaurant by chance where I got three courses for €16 euro and Vernon only had a salad as he was still feeling a bit off. I had foie gras with toast and salad (small but nice portion), a steak with green peppercorn sauce, green beans and garlic, and home made oven roast potatoe cubes with rosemary – all nice but modest portion, and creme brulee – so so, more of a custard for desert. It was the best meal in Paris although I would not rave about it compared to a good quality meal south of the equator.

Whilst we were eating we heard this yap which startled us. Next to us was a fluffy white bichon type cross under the table with mummy and daddy out for dinner. It continued to voice its opinion as often as it wanted. It still amazes me to see where people take their dogs and how acceptable it is. Some are very cute in their designer doggy strollers, bags or on foot with fancy attire LOL.

We ducked our way through the crowds enjoying Saturday night dining and made our way to the Notre Dame just as the sun was getting low, perfect for photos. Saturday is the only late night for climbing up the tower and I was really looking forward to trying some artistic photography. When we rounded the last corner I was so disappointed to see a hand written sign up saying closing at 9:30 tonight, and it was 9:05 and a queue with a cut off tape was waiting to get the last entry. Totally gutted as I had checked the hours on the internet and they didn’t bother to post up a change or give any reason. Nothing else to do but try tomorrow during the day and be satisfied with that.

We went home full and relaxed but tired after a long hot day that did not quite live up to expectations but was still a great day of experiencing Paris. It just seems to grow on you with a charm that overrides any of the negatives.

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