Friday 14th May. Visit to the Chateau de Versailles.

Going to be off early today so we wouldn't have to line up for long. Tried to book tickets on line but couldn't get through. That had the warning bells ringing and I nearly suggested we make it another day but wasn't game as this was Annette's must see in Paris and I'd be in real trouble if for some reason we didn't get to go before we left. Plan to be there at 8.30am. Reality sucks.

Got there about 10.30am. Never seen so many people in one line snaking around the huge front courtyard. It appeared that even after you got the tickets you then had to line up to get in. Took a punt and sent Annette off to line up to get in. Finally got in and blow me down if they didn't have 6 ATM machines where you could get your ticket. Watched someone get a ticket so out of the line I go and I couldn't get it to work and neither could most of the other people who tried. Back in line inside and around the corner and here were the girls selling the tickets and most were using cards to pay and I guess that was holding up the other machines. Got the tickets at 12 and got back out to see the line had doubled. There was no way the people on the end were going to get in before 3pm. I didn't take a photo of them because I didn't want to be reminded. Annette of course had gotten to the front of her line ages ago and was now waiting on the other side of the fence. We were lucky the guard let me in and didn't make me go to the rear of the line. I must have been just a bit grumpy cause some bugger saw me and had time to carve it in stone and place it in the grounds before I got the tickets. Bloody rude.

 

In at last and even I would have to say it's worth seeing. I might have felt like a sheep on market day and I was glad to get back outside. I did get a few ideas of how to decorate the ceilings and it's easy to see how the old king impressed his females. (and a few blokes as well I guess by my observations). The guards were telling us to carry our backpacks to the front (pickpockets) but that left me feeling exposed.

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Enough of that, we are now outside and it is truly just breathtaking. Many photos and a few ideas but I'd have to buy out the whole block.

This was a section of one of the smaller features of part of the garden. The guide book said that the garden was built over an area of more than one thousand hectares and it looked like it still is. Annette had us walking all afternoon and we still didn't manage to see all the formal areas and didn't even get to see the park land areas. I started to get a bit jaded with the formal areas and lent over a gate to get a photo of a wild area and the gate swung open. Next thing a guard was yelling out Monsieur, Monsieur you cannot open gates. Where the hell did he come from? We must have been in an area the size of Hamilton gardens surrounded and criss crossed by 8 metre hedges. Inside the hedged areas are wild areas the size of our block. (Well maybe not that big but this is the shot over the gate).

 

Suitably told off and laughed at by Annette, off we went to see Marie-Antoinette's farm and hamlet, which is what I was interested in. On the way we saw our first red squirrel, cute little fellow but too quick for a photo. I got a few good ideas from the buildings but I'm not sure if the building inspector would be impressed. See below.

They started shutting off sections at 5.30 and we had both had enough by then so home we went via another gate and walked through another part of Versailles to the railway station. Beautiful buildings and I'm sure it would be worth staying there for a day or two to explore the town.                                         

We used the metro to get there and back and it was pretty simple to get the hang of even for us. The train out of Paris was a double decker so we had a bit of a view of the surrounding area once we got above ground. Back to the apartment, very tired.

(Rod, I don't know about the Scots, the French men seem to be giving Annette enough attention being fair and ginger. Most of the females here are olive and on the smaller size, if you get my drift.)

Au revoir for now.