2/9/2015 Paris

2/9/2015 Paris

The weather was cold but sunny so I decided on Versailles. I caught the RER B to St Michael-Notre Dame and changed to the RER C line to Versailles Chateaux RG. No extra cost to my Navigo card.

The journey took 45 min both legs and I walked out of the Versailles Railway station into a suburban street. I had memorised the walking directions from an Internet travel blog and set off across the street, between the Cafe and a Vegetable stall, then turned right down the next street until I came to a (very large) parking area, which is the car-park for the Chateaux. Walked through the car-park to the "huge iron gates" and followed the signs after that.

They relieved me of 15 Euros and I joined the tourist "conga line" through the very large palace. The "Hall of mirrors" would have been truly spectacular before electric (or even gas) lighting. The crowds were intense and getting more so but I saw (and photographed) what I came for. The real story is in the formal gardens that surround Versailles. Truly magnificent even today. I walked a few kilometres right around the Grand Canal (central lake/water feature) and visited some, but by no means all, the smaller garden "rooms". Many, many acres of grounds all set-out in a geometric pattern with central sculptural pieces in each "room". It would take days to go through it all properly. In its heyday, with hundreds of serfs/workers maintaining it, wow.

I called it quits when my back started to ache, a sure sign of exhaustion, and back-tracked to the railway station. I took only a couple of minutes to sort out which train to catch to get me to St. Michael-Notre Dame, to meet up with the RER C line. Either the French have improved their communications since my last visit, or I am getting more adept at puzzle-solving but I got to Notre Dame relatively easily. There was a short delay waiting for a Cite bound train but I was back by 4.00 pm. It was quicker coming back than getting there is the morning?? I just missed the rush-hour both times.

Late lunch/snack then a nap and work on the computer till dinner time.