Versailles

Bonne Soir,

Another beautiful day in Paris.

Today we had booked a tour to see the Palace of Versailles.  We decided to wait outside the hotel for the tour van to pick us up (Versailles is approx. 25 mins drive from Paris.)  Big mistake.  We have two resident gypsies that live across the road, under the railway bridge I assume.  I must say they are persistent.  The guy asked Sean to go into the hotel and get him a coffee.  When we refused, the guy wandered into the hotel behind another guest.  (To access our hotel you have a swipe card so without the card you can't get in).  Reception chased him out and then it was the girls turn to give it a try.  Now we understand why the hotel doors are locked at all times.

The Palace was amazing, a 2000 room extravagance created by Louis XIV (14th).   Surrounding this mammoth palace are gardens that are just as expansive.  They are manicured to perfection.  It is easy to imagine the King and his wife taking court here.  Three Kings lived in this palace, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI.  The last Louis was married to Marie Antoinette.  Only a few rooms are open to the public but they are certainly impressive, filled with paintings, statues and the piece de resistance was the hall of mirrors.  Literally an extremely long hallway with one side covered in mirrors, mirrors at the time were ridiculously expensive so this was quite an accomplishment, around 5000 man hours to produce a pane of 0.5m x 0.5m, it has 370 mirrors.  Understandably the people of France were quite ticked off that the Louis' were living such a decadent lifestyle at their expense so inevitably they had enough and dragged the King and Queen back to Paris and cut their heads off (guillotine).  The people were supposed to come back and destroy the palace but it was a 9 hour walk to Versailles so they didn't really bother.  The locals did however loot the palace taking nearly everything, but leaving the building intact.  Fifty years after the revolution, sense prevailed and it was made into a museum and restored.  Great history surrounding this town and the Palace.

Booking a tour is the best option for all the sites in Paris because you skip the line.  The people queuing outside the Palace was again, phenomenal. 

The rest of the afternoon we spent shopping.  Mind you in the 1.5 hours we allocated to shop (I know, not much)  I only visited three shops within 50m of our hotel.  Sean wanders like a nomad and seems to be beating me again in the purchasing stakes.  Will have to schedule more time within the next few days.

Tomorrow we climb the Eiffel Tower and take a boat cruise down the Seine.  We also plan to scope out the Tour route tomorrow to try and work out the best place to be for maximum view and photos.

It's been another great day.  Will talk again tomorrow.

Lorraine and Sean

Au Revoir

Sean and Lorraine

P.S. Some funny stories we have forgotten to tell.

One night in Rome, Sean went to go for some shopping for groceries.  As he crossed the road outside the hotel he encountered a beggar/gypsy woman wanting money.  After saying no repeatedly she started bumping his elbow making kissy noises at him.  He hobbled off as fast as he could totally freaked out.

When we were riding the scooter in Rome we accidentally went into an area reserved for transport vehicles like taxis, buses, horse & carriage, limos.  Its only like this at certain times and Sean didn't realise this and was eventually stopped by a police barricade.  On pulling up he says in his best Aussie voice "What's Up?", to which the cop says in broken english "You don't tell me what's up, is that how you talk to police in Australia?".  At this time I really didn't want to tell him my attitudes to Aussie police so just said "Yes it is!".  Gobsmacked he said "Well here, I tell you what's up!  When I make this signal (twirling his finger in the air), you turn around". In Australia that is the motorbike rider signal for police are around, so he was just signalling his presence as far as I was concerned.  We turned around and went on our way laughing and asking each other "What's up?".

Daily Links
2016-07-22 Versailles
2016-07-21 Notre Dame, Bastille, Eiffel Redux
2016-07-20 Louvre Walking Tour
2016-07-19 Au Revoir Geneve, Arrivee Paris
2016-07-18 Geneve
2016-07-17 Train Rome to Geneva
2016-07-16 Shopping Day Redux
2016-07-15 Shopping Day
2016-07-14 Vatican Day
2016-07-13 Vespa Day
2016-07-12.2 Walking Tour
2016-07-12.1 AM Morning Ramble and Lunch
2016-07-11.1 - Ramblings
2016-07-10 BNE-DXB-ITA

Others
2016-07 Euro Holiday (entire collection, includes Lorraine's iPhone photos I have previously missed)
Google Compositions