Versailles

On our last full day in Paris we went to Versailles.  We got under way early and slightly nervous having read about the huge crowds attracted to Versailles.  We were keen to get ahead of the tourist hordes.  The 20 kilometre train ride out to the south-west of Paris was fairly full, and on arrival we fought for position in the scrum which poured off the train and walked briskly the short distance from the station to the palace entrance.

There were a lot of people arriving, but fortunately the queues had not yet built up and we already had tickets so were soon inside.

With hundreds of others we made our way through the rooms of the palace, the king's and queen's apartments, and those of their daughters.  The palace has more than 2,000 rooms.  It was quite eye-opening to realise how public their lives were, with all sorts of hangers-on visiting them in the various rooms of their apartments, and very limited privacy.  Apparently the king was woken at some precise time, and got up, washed and shaved and dressed with the help of about one hundred assistants.

It became very congested and hot towards the end of our tour of the chambers, and we escaped outside with relief.  Behind the palace are the gardens of Versailles, covering 800 hectares and very pleasant after the crowded palace.

It is staggering to realise how much money and resource the kings must have controlled to be able to build a palace and gardens of this size.  No wonder the peasants revolted.

We walked all the way down to that lake, and then at least the same distance again, to the "Grand Trianon" and "Petit Trianon" beyond.  These are a couple of residences away from the stresses of the main palace, where Marie Antoinette and others would escape for a bit of peace and quiet.  Having worn our feet out, we treated ourselves to a ride on the little train back to the main palace.