We got on this bus at 10am this morning and drove about 45 minutes out of Paris to Versailles. The palace originally began as a hunting lodge for King Louie the 14th, and then each successive generation expanded on it. Now, it is a magnificent complex with over 2,000 rooms!
We arrived at the palace a little early for our timed tickets and decided to use the restrooms before we went in. What a joke! They have over 8 million visitors a year and they have only a few toilets. It is a good thing we didn’t have to go badly, because we had to wait over 30 minutes. Ridiculous!
The bathroom fiasco got me in kind of a bad mood and it only got worse from there. We literally had to elbow our way through a sea of tourist to work out way up to the groups / timed ticket entrance, where we had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes. I noticed that people from other parts of the world have different ideas of personal space that we do in the US. I was constantly brushed against and jostled. I tried to remain calm, but when a bunch of Japanese tourists started touching Megan, I just about snapped.
Thankfully, they let us into another area that was less crowded, where we waited more to go through security. Then, finally, we were in. I’m sure the palace was lovely inside, but I honestly don’t remember seeing much. Mainly, I remember swimming through a sea of people in a succession of over-crowded, over-heated walkways. I thought it might thin out after a while, but it didn’t. I finally took Megan, and raced ahead hoping to find some elbow room. I did finally get to a larger room and staked out a spot in an empty corner while waiting for the rest to catch up. Then, it was back into the sea of humanity again as we went through several more areas. I continued “swimming” as fast as I could and was so happy to escape from the madhouse and into a large courtyard. Whew!
We took a few photos in the courtyard, and then exited the palace and headed toward the royal gardens. With fresh air, few people and wide open spaces, I found this much more pleasant. We lingered in the gardens for a while and then it was time to head to lunch.
It was a short walk to the restaurant where we had a nice lunch (the best part was dessert). We then got back on the bus and made the drive back. We are supposed to go on a river boat cruise this evening, but our family is not going to go. Roland & Sandy aren’t feeling well and I don’t want to be out that late (8:30 – 11pm). Plus, I’m sure it will be hot & crowded!
We went to the Hard Rock Café tonight and had some American comfort food for dinner. Quick & easy (still hot & crowded). Tomorrow, we will be leaving Paris and heading to Munich. I am excited to go see Germany for the first time!
We arrived at the palace a little early for our timed tickets and decided to use the restrooms before we went in. What a joke! They have over 8 million visitors a year and they have only a few toilets. It is a good thing we didn’t have to go badly, because we had to wait over 30 minutes. Ridiculous!
The bathroom fiasco got me in kind of a bad mood and it only got worse from there. We literally had to elbow our way through a sea of tourist to work out way up to the groups / timed ticket entrance, where we had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes. I noticed that people from other parts of the world have different ideas of personal space that we do in the US. I was constantly brushed against and jostled. I tried to remain calm, but when a bunch of Japanese tourists started touching Megan, I just about snapped.
Thankfully, they let us into another area that was less crowded, where we waited more to go through security. Then, finally, we were in. I’m sure the palace was lovely inside, but I honestly don’t remember seeing much. Mainly, I remember swimming through a sea of people in a succession of over-crowded, over-heated walkways. I thought it might thin out after a while, but it didn’t. I finally took Megan, and raced ahead hoping to find some elbow room. I did finally get to a larger room and staked out a spot in an empty corner while waiting for the rest to catch up. Then, it was back into the sea of humanity again as we went through several more areas. I continued “swimming” as fast as I could and was so happy to escape from the madhouse and into a large courtyard. Whew!
We took a few photos in the courtyard, and then exited the palace and headed toward the royal gardens. With fresh air, few people and wide open spaces, I found this much more pleasant. We lingered in the gardens for a while and then it was time to head to lunch.
It was a short walk to the restaurant where we had a nice lunch (the best part was dessert). We then got back on the bus and made the drive back. We are supposed to go on a river boat cruise this evening, but our family is not going to go. Roland & Sandy aren’t feeling well and I don’t want to be out that late (8:30 – 11pm). Plus, I’m sure it will be hot & crowded!
We went to the Hard Rock Café tonight and had some American comfort food for dinner. Quick & easy (still hot & crowded). Tomorrow, we will be leaving Paris and heading to Munich. I am excited to go see Germany for the first time!
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