Bethany: Day Two

So Sunday was day two of my best friend Bethany and I playing tourist in Paris, and we decided to take the train just out of the city to spend the day in Versailles and see the palace. After the long wait in the staircase the night before, we decided to sleep in a bit the next morning, so we didn't get started until early afternoon, but it was still plenty of time to see everything.

Bethy, outside the main palace gate.

The view of the palace and gate from inside the first courtyard.

I had gone to Versailles previously with Antoine and his family. But we didn't have time to go into the palace, and the gardens were still dormant in January. It was nice though, to have been there before, and to know my way from the train station to the palace, especially with the throngs of tourists.

When we arrived at the palace, there was a bit of confusion over whether or not I needed to go to a ticket booth to redeem my free ticket, but we got it sorted out and queued up. The line moved quite fast, and even though it was about twice the length of the courtyard, it took less than an hour.

The decoration of the main gate.

The view of the inner courtyard, after the gate.

There was also a slight miscommunication at the bag check, but it was smoothed out and we whisked off into the palace. This place is incredible. Seriously. If you thought the Louvre was extravagant, then Versailles is down-right over the top. This is the most over-indulgent, ornate landmark I have ever seen. It's also one of the most crowded.

5 million visitors flood this 67,000 sq. meter, 2,300 room palace each year. The rooms open to the public, however, are a fraction of that; squeezing visitor through the various royal apartments, the hall of mirrors, and the chapel.

The outside of the chapel, the fifth to be built at Versailles.

The inside of the chapel, the first room shown on the tour.

Amongst the other decadent rooms on the tour are the massive Hall of Mirrors:

the Dauphin's Apartments:

I guess this is how they color co-ordinated...

and other various architectural and design gems:

This was the least ornate of the chandeliers.

We were going to go to the gardens afterwards, but they were having the dancing fountains show, and wouldn't accept our passes to get in for free. I still want to go back to get the gardens in bloom, but Beth and I decided to turn back instead of pay, and explore the city before heading home.

A beautifully worn apartment building in the town of Versailles.

The train station was chaos trying to return to Paris. We waited in a line for an automated ticket machine for over an hour (mind you, this ticket machine was maybe 30 feet from me) before realizing the ticket machine didn't accept bills or American cards, I had left my French card at home, and we didn't have enough change for both tickets. So we had to go wait in another line, thankfully much quicker, to talk to an attendant at the ticket booth. We had to push and shove for another 20 minutes to make it to the turnstiles, only to realize every single one we went to was broken. I ended up jumping by accident (the door opened, but the machine never took my ticket) and Beth kept pushing her way through until she found one that worked.

Finally we were safely on the train and relaxing on our way back. After a quiet evening and some soup and salad, and some recovery from the train station disaster, we relaxed and got ready for day three of playing tourist: The Louvre.