Versailles

Versailles was everything that people said it would be - inconvenient, insanely crowded, and amazing.

I've been teaching the French Revolution for a long time, and I have wanted to see Versailles for about as long.  I know that there are so many incredible things to see in Paris, and we are going to miss so many of them, but I really wanted to get to Versailles to see it for myself.

However, I did not want to wait in line for hours and hours and hours.  So we booked a tour that enabled us to skip the line.  I vacillated between one that would take us directly from Paris and one that started in Versailles.  Ultimately I looked at where we are staying and determined that it wouldn't be too difficult to get to Versailles via public transportation and decided to save the money, do a short tour of the palace itself, and then we could spend whatever time we wanted to in the gardens.

This was the line to get in when we left at 3.  It snaked around at least 3 times.  People must have waited for hours.

This was an excellent plan, and ultimately it worked out very well, but a small wrench was thrown in the works by the fact that a huge chunk of the metro line that would have very easily taken us from where we're staying to Versailles is entirely shut down for improvements right now.  Thankfully we discovered this the night before our trip, which enabled us to use the Paris route planner to find an alternate way to get there.  It involved a long bus ride, followed by a metro ride, which found us cutting it so close that we basically ran to meet our tour group, but we made it (and didn't have to pay any more than the metro cards that we already bought, which feels like a steal!).

The tour itself was very interesting, traveling through the main sections of Versailles where the king and queen did most of their official duties.  I am a little bummed that we didn't get to see the sections where the nobles lived, but I also knew that if we were on tour any longer than we were the children would revolt.

This picture was actually taken at the end of the tour, so you can see how everyone was doing. 
Yes, this is the best shot that we got here.

Artists rendering of the famous Estates General that led to the start of the French Revolution

The chapel.  We couldn't get into it, just see it from the second floor.

The ceilings were absolutely amazing.  Every room a masterpiece.

Louis XIV, in his younger, handsomer days.

Bust of Louis XIV by some famous sculptor whose name I am forgetting.  Louis wanted him to redesign the Louvre, but didn't like his sketches.  He ended up doing this bust instead.  Feels like kind of a step down.

Hall of mirrors.  It was, as I expected, too crowded to really get a sense of its majesty. 
But it was very impressive nonetheless.

Family portrait of Louis XIV and his brother Philip

Queen's official bedroom.  She didn't always sleep here, but she did have to give birth here.  Publically.  

Marie Antoinette and the kids.

After about two hours in the palace itself, we were taken out to the grounds, where our group split up.  Our plan all along had been to rent a golf cart to explore the gardens.  The line was fairly long when we got there, and the kids wanted to skip it.  But I knew that they wouldn't want to walk very far, and part of what is so amazing about Versailles is how expansive the grounds are.  So Lea and I waited in line while Pete and Jax ate some sandwiches that we brought for lunch, and then just a little bit after that we were happily ensconced in a golf cart and ready to see the grounds.

Happy to be sitting and happy to be about to eat.

The flower gardens are close to the palace itself, but the canal is quite a distance away. 

Flower gardens.  

Even further past that are the Trianon and Petite Trianon, little palaces where the king and queen could get some time away from the hustle and bustle of the court.  We didn't go into either, as they required a separate ticket, but they were beautiful even from the outside.

Petite Trianon

Trianon

Even further away is Marie Antoinette's mock village, where she could go with her friends and pretend to be a shepherdess.  In fact, it's so far that we couldn't even get to it by golf cart.  Bummer.

So we had a good time driving around the grounds, stopping periodically to see a little more by foot and take some pictures.

Posing with apple in a grassy field in front of the Petite Trianon

In front of the canal.

Canal in front of us, Versailles behind us.

And that was that!  We returned the golf cart and made our way back to the train, to the bus, to the apartment, where we had dinner at home.  (We popped out for some ice cream and saw some amazing breakdancers, but sadly I got no pictures). 

We leave shortly for our food tour, and then have tickets to the Louvre tonight.  We're trying to make the most of our time here, but are also getting very excited about heading home.