Visiting Versailles

Good morning Paris! We took a morning walk to find some baked goods for the excursion later. At 9am on a Saturday, the streets were pretty quiet, even at the famous Moulin Rouge.

Moulin is French for mill, by the way, eg red (wind) mill.

It was our last full day in Paris, but we’d decided not to spend it in Paris, but to head to Versailles for the day.

It’s not far or hard to get there, but our trip involved a Metro ride then a change to the RER suburban line C.

The change at a station complex called Invalides included a super long walk, with a subway in the middle apparently designed by Villeroy and Boch.

We munched on snacks on the RER – we were expecting a late lunch. It was busy, but the big double decker carriages didn’t get crowded.

One neat thing many of the RER carriages have is a footrest. I wonder if it helps discourage slobs from putting their shoes on the seats?

It was about 35 minutes on the train, then we arrived into Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche station – a long unwieldly name that was made longer in 2012 by adding “Chateau” to help lost tourists. It’s a handy ten-ish minute walk from the palace.

After all if you’re going to have a palace, might as well make it convenient for the station.

The sun was shining, and the tourist hordes, including ourselves, were massing. Our booked time into the Palace was still a little way off, so we had a walk around the Gardens first.

They’re huge. It must take an army of gardeners to deal with it, and I couldn’t figure out how a place so vast could exist among the suburbs of Paris.

The only thing that spoilt it was the presence of visitors driving around in golf buggies. I don’t know what authorities were thinking when they decided this should be allowed.

The occasional official rubber-tyred toy “train” carrying people who can’t walk long distances is fair enough, but continual noise of golf buggies on the gravel completely spoils the peaceful ambience.

And then we went through the security and ticket checks and entered the palace. Following the standard course you start off downstairs then work your way up to the higher levels, though there was an extra exhibit on the ground floor that we also explored.

We were getting pretty hungry by this point, and wondering if there was an “airside” restaurant that did not involve exiting the complex.

There was, but we decided to press on, and found ourselves jostling with crowds through some stunning rooms… though of course the nature of Versailles is that a lot of the furniture and fittings got ransacked during the French Revolution. Much of the art is stunning though.

Once we’d done all the main rooms, it was well past time for lunch.

It was a packed (had to queue), tourist trap cafe… nice enough, but expensive. But when you’ve gotta eat, you’ve gotta eat.

Exit via the gift shop, and back to the station, and back the way we’d come.

I hadn’t noticed the chandelier in the station on the way here. Nice.

One thing I noticed on the way back: an RER service in the opposite direction running a short train. Melburnians of a certain age will remember running along the platform when a short train turned up. It still happens sometimes in Paris.

I enjoyed the ride and the excursion, but when I thought about it later, the Palace of Versailles was perhaps not as fascinating or enjoyable as some of the other things we saw in Paris.

Obviously it’s an incredibly important cultural and historic site for the French. But to an outsider like me? It just didn’t grab me. Maybe I’m a Philistine.

We got back to the apartment for a rest, then headed out to dinner.

Not very far this time – the restaurant just downstairs. We’d walked past it enough times since arriving.

What you really notice in these dense urban areas with lots of outdoor dining is the smoke. Smoking is still allowed for outdoor dining – unlike back at home.

So to get to or from our door in the evening, we had to run the gauntlet of smokers.

Apart from the laws, many more people smoke in France than in Australia. This data (and this) says 34.6% vs 12%.

One consequence of this is that even inside a restaurant, if you’re near the door, and particularly if the door is open, you’ll smell the smoke.

With this in mind, it was still a delicious meal.

After dinner we took a walk up the street to sample the nightlife on this Saturday night. The Moulin Rouge was all lit up in the dark. That part of the Pigalle neighbourhood is also full of less salubrious establishments… many of which looked busy.

Off the main drag, the streets were quieter. Some shops were still open, and the restaurants were busy.

Yet despite all the people, there was little traffic. Busy cities don’t have to be flooded with cars if people have other options.

Ah Paris, so good. I was going to miss it.

The next morning we’d be packing up and heading south.