A funny thing happened on the way to Versailles.

Sunday 15^th September.

Last night we decide to get up and going especially early to tackle Versailles. My whinging about the rain last night seems to have had the desired effect. For the first time since we arrived in Paris, we see blue sky and sunshine! Let’s go! We need the RER C station which happily is just 2 stops up at Gare d’Austerlitz but we decide to walk in the sun. I actually buy tickets from a real French speaking woman who says she doesn’t speak English. Yeah, right. Anyway, return tickets to Versailles purchased and platform found, on the right train and off to Versailles. We pass the miniature Statue of Liberty out at Grenelle, near the Eiffel Tower and I think I hear music. Next thing, 4 men, 2 with saxaphones, 2 with piano accordians are in the end of our carriage playing typical French tunes. Finally, someone hit the play button on my travel soundtrack. Another “Yes, I’m finally in Paris” moment. We happily bop along in our seats, taking photos and video of them knowing it’s going to cost us a coin or two. No worries! The men play a couple of songs then walk through the carriage with their hand out. I wonder how long it takes them to make back their train fare and go into profit for the day? Good on them, they’ve made my day.

On-board entertainment

No need for a map to find the Palace, just follow the crowd. I had read that the thing to do is visit the gardens first till about noon when the Trianons and Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet open, then hit the Palace in the afternoon around 3pm. The gardens are usually free, but thanks to the Heritage weekend, there’s a musical fountain show throughout the gardens with a mandatory entry fee, whether you watch the fountain show or not. At least that’s one less decision to be made. The entry courtyard of the Palace is a seething mass of people, there’s a line in it somewhere, all the people waiting to go into the Palace. We find the line to buy our ticket which is a decent length but not too bad, then find the ATM type ticket machines that save us waiting to buy from a person. We’re out the door in record time and heading for the gardens. There’s no way to describe the enormity of this place. It’s acres and acres of a crazy fantasy world and combined with the excesses of the Palace, it’s not hard to see why the peasants revolted. I don’t think it was just because of the wallpaper in Marie-Antoinette’s bedchamber. Was Marie-Antoinette an Austrian princess of simple needs who didn’t really fit in at Versailles or was she totally delusional and think she was a milkmaid?? Have a walk around her hamlet and let me know what you think.

Mary-Antoinette's hamlet, complete with mill

 I had to keep telling myself that this was real and historical, not some cobbled together theme park. I think if it was a theme park it wouldn’t have been so big! And anyone who put a foot out of place incurred the whistle-blowing wrath of the security person who seemed to materialise out of thin air.

By about 3pm we were ready to see what the line looked like for the Palace entry and although it was still long, it was much better than it was in the morning. We got talking to some Americans and enjoyed their company but while our backs were turned, a woman cut in front of us. Trevor was aghast and looked for a security person, feeling sure that this slight would have been noticed by security, but no, if you want something done about it, it’s do it yourself or let it go. So Trevor pulls himself up to his full height, taps the offender on the shoulder and points out that the end if the line is that-a-way!! ‘Quelle surprise’ acts the woman, but seeing she’s being given no quarter, skulks off and cuts in further down the line. Victory is ours!!

Leave no surface undecorated!

The crowds through the Royal Apartments is what I would call bad, I’d hate to have seen it this morning. I literally hold the camera over my head, shoot blindly and hope for the best. It’s crazy. The photos aren’t too bad. We find the way through to the Hall of Mirrors, especially beautiful, such incredible chandeliers, and are always amused when someone tries to go the wrong way because the security materialise and correct their poor decision.

It’s a huge day and it’s nearly dark by the time we get home. The supermarket is closed so it’s back down Rue Mouffetard for dinner. No Nutella crepe tonight though, I’ve still got ski pants to fit into when we get to Norway.