Versailles...the real Disney of France
Trip Start
May 04, 2008
1
8
15
Trip End
May 19, 2008
Paris, France
Sunday, May 11, 2008
You could definitely see where Ludwig got his inspiration from for Linderhof. Ludwig's bedroom was indeed a replecation of Louis'. Of course, the placement of Ludwig's was better because his bed was situated so that his windows directly overlooked the gardens and a grand cascading waterfall. Louis placed his bedroom so that it was in the dead center of the palace and faced the rising sun. But, the windows looked out on a bland courtyard. If I had been king, I would have faced my bedroom to the pretty garden!
By this time, we were starving so we headed towards the cafe in the garden. The place was absolutely packed, it was hot and shade was hard to come by. After a long wait in line for food, we found a place in the grass (with some shade!) and ate our pizza, sandwiches and salad. There was loud, classical music playing in the background throughout the garden making it feel even more like Disney World! Now, here is where we made a tactical error. We knew the fountains would be going off at some point in the afternoon and didn't want to miss them. I thought the fountains would run periodically (like for 10 minutes at a time every half hour). Somehow I missed that they would only run from 3:30 until 5:20. So, we walked around the gardens waiting for the fountains to start at 3:30...we didn't want to miss them. Did I mention it was very hot? By the time 3:30 rolled around, we watched one fountain for 5 minutes and then headed back to the Hamlet area. We thought we'd make it back to the garden area before the fountains stopped but by the time we got back it was 5:30 and the waterworks were finished. Oh well.
The Hamlet, by the way, was bizarre. A little recreated village in the grounds of Marie Antoinette's palace. Funny that she was trying to recreate what Ludwig had while Ludwig was trying to recreate what they had. The grass is always greener... Anyway, seeing Neptune's Fountain in all it's splendor had to have been better than the Hamlet! And to top it all off...Mom wore sandals that day. We walked and walked and walked on crushed gravel and Mom ended up with terrible blisters. On the plus side, we had some really, really good melon gelato!
So, for future reference, if anyone wants to visit Versailles, here are my recommendations (assuming it is a hot summer weekend):
1. Arrive very early!
2. Buy your ticket from the RER station (includes your roundtrip train fare) and avoid standing in line twice once you arrive.
3. Visit the gardens first - when you arrive in the main courtyard, head over to your left between the two lines (one for buying tickets and one for entrance with tickets). Go towards the exit for the Palace, past the library (book store/gift shop) and you'll see the kiosks for the garden entrance.
4. Go all the way to the back of the estate and visit the Grand and Petit Trion and Hamlet areas first.
5. Come back to the main garden areas between 11 and 12:00 to watch the first fountain show and have some lunch.
6. Visit the inside of the Palace after lunch.
7. Head back into the garden to watch the 3:30 - 5:20 fountain shows. Bring a blanket and picnic and enjoy the show!
8. Don't wear sandals!
I only wish we had a do-over day for Versailles so I could follow my own advice!
So, once we made it back to the hotel, Mom headed up to her room and Darin and I headed off in search of a laundromat. The first place we tried, we discovered that the last load had to be in by 8:30 and it was already 8:45. So, we walked down the street a bit and found another place that stayed open later. We were a bit perplexed at how to get everything to work. We pretty much had the jist of it - except how to buy soap. Luckily, a guy was doing his laundry that spoke English. After watching us try to figure it out for a few minutes, he asked if we needed help. He finished walking us through it. The only thing we didn't realize until it was too late was that the cycle you choose determines the length of time the wash will run. Unfortunately, we had picked 45 minute cycles which meant we'd only have 10-15 minutes of drying time before they kicked us out. Most things were somewhat dry so we just hung everything up at the hotel and all was dry by the morning. So much easier than hand washing things in the sink every few days! Dinner that night consisted of a box of cheese crackers for me and a bag of gummy candies for Darin. Fine Parisian cuisine!
