On our last day in Paris, before we ventured off to Rome, we decided to make a trip to Versailles, to where else but the Sun King's palace. King Louis XIV's royal château was supposed to be the dream palace of every European king during his days. So we parted with 21 Euros each for 'Le Passport' that covered the RER trip, main palaces and the estate of Marie-Antoinette.
Versailles Palace
Equipped with an audio guide, we were definitely going to understand more about this place than the guess-work we found ourselves in at the Louvre. From the minute we entered the King and Queen's apartment, we were treated to a heady mix of opulence and extravagant luxuries. From the hanging chandeliers to the ceiling paintings, and from the dazzling hall of mirrors to the the richly decorated bed chambers, all of it spelt wealth. However we left the château feeling slightly disappointed as we had set our bar of expectation real high. The jarring artwork of Jeff Koon's that stood out like sore thumbs in the palace halls did not help. (see giant balloon dog below)
It was now mid-day and we thought we could wrap up the visit early with only the gardens and the queen's estate. But we were not quite prepared for the scale of the gardens which was easily 20 times bigger than the 'puny' palace. Our walk to the Queen's Estate seemed like ages (around 50 minutes), though it had a country-side feel to it with tall handsome trees on every side. Must be a wonderful place to jog.
The Queen's little hamlet was like a little 'kampung' she decided to built near her royal abode. The place was a picture of calm and quiet, filled with quaint huts, small vineyards, a pond and a handful of farm animals. She must had been a 'Kampung' girl at heart.
Anyway, we underestimated the time and found ourselves brisk walking out of the palace grounds. We reached back to our hotel just in time to gather our bags and head for the Bercy train station. We managed packed some Kebab before getting on the train.
Au Revoir Paris (we'll see in you in a week), Rome here we come!
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