...while on a short distance train is the second lesson we learned today but I'll go back to that later. The first was that no matter how organized you are, some things happen that will force you to adjust, reorganize and adapt. We left the apartment for our Versailles tour an hour before the scheduled time. We were a bit more familiar with the metro system by now and we were definitely feeling more confident about which lines to take to get us to the meeting place. What we didn't account for was that the line we had to transfer to was closed from Thursday to Sunday due to some maintenance work. Oh boy! So we had to get off the metro, take the replacement bus and take the train again a few stops later. Then, we wasted a lot of time walking around Gare du Nord looking for a train that apparently does not even pass there. When we finally figured it out, we've already missed our tour group and decided to go it alone.
At St. Michel- Notre Dame, we boarded the train to Versailles. Or so we thought. That's lesson number 3. But let's backtrack to lesson number 2. We've been comfortably seated for half an hour and using the time wisely to catch up on our blogs when we were told by a fellow passenger that we were at the end of the line. But wait! It doesn't say anything about Versailles anywhere. At first we thought we missed our stop, hence lesson number 2, which was highly possible since we did pass a station that could have been a drop off point for us, but we were so busy typing away, we didn't pay it a moment's notice. As far as we were concerned, we were to get off at the end of the line. U-huh!
So we retraced our steps and looked for the next train going back in the direction we came from and recognized our mistake, which is lesson number 3: Read the train number or the name of the train. Well, duh! So, we got on the next train, yes, the right train this time and finally made our way to Versailles.
The terminal we got off was the one that was a 10-minute walk from the palace. We walked the main avenue that leads straight to the palace in the rain. Good thing we had the foresight to bring our raincoats and umbrellas, the one thing we did right today.
At first sight, the palace is majestic and grandiose. This impression doesn't change as you go inside and look at the exhibit. The combination of the different displays and the description in the audio guide paints a picture of an opulent, decadent and extravagant lifestyle that it was quite overwhelming. It's no wonder the people got mad at the monarchy. It was almost ridiculous in my eyes, and such grandeur shouldn't be for one family alone. It was a long walk from beginning to end, there was so much to feast your eyes on but there's only so much you can take. After a while I just wanted it to be over. We weren't able to see the gardens anymore since the rain was incessant. Instead, we trudged the short distance to the closer of the 2 train stations while eating our baguettes, French style.. When in France and all that. :)
...while on a short distance train is the second lesson we learned today but I'll go back to that later. The first was that no matter how organized you are, some things happen that will force you to adjust, reorganize and adapt. We left the apartment for our Versailles tour an hour before the scheduled time. We were a bit more familiar with the metro system by now and we were definitely feeling more confident about which lines to take to get us to the meeting place. What we didn't account for was that the line we had to transfer to was closed from Thursday to Sunday due to some maintenance work. Oh boy! So we had to get off the metro, take the replacement bus and take the train again a few stops later. Then, we wasted a lot of time walking around Gare du Nord looking for a train that apparently does not even pass there. When we finally figured it out, we've already missed our tour group and decided to go it alone.
At St. Michel- Notre Dame, we boarded the train to Versailles. Or so we thought. That's lesson number 3. But let's backtrack to lesson number 2. We've been comfortably seated for half an hour and using the time wisely to catch up on our blogs when we were told by a fellow passenger that we were at the end of the line. But wait! It doesn't say anything about Versailles anywhere. At first we thought we missed our stop, hence lesson number 2, which was highly possible since we did pass a station that could have been a drop off point for us, but we were so busy typing away, we didn't pay it a moment's notice. As far as we were concerned, we were to get off at the end of the line. U-huh!
So we retraced our steps and looked for the next train going back in the direction we came from and recognized our mistake, which is lesson number 3: Read the train number or the name of the train. Well, duh! So, we got on the next train, yes, the right train this time and finally made our way to Versailles.
The terminal we got off was the one that was a 10-minute walk from the palace. We walked the main avenue that leads straight to the palace in the rain. Good thing we had the foresight to bring our raincoats and umbrellas, the one thing we did right today. 
At first sight, the palace is majestic and grandiose. This impression doesn't change as you go inside and look at the exhibit. The combination of the different displays and the description in the audio guide paints a picture of an opulent, decadent and extravagant lifestyle that it was quite overwhelming. It's no wonder the people got mad at the monarchy. It was almost ridiculous in my eyes, and such grandeur shouldn't be for one family alone. It was a long walk from beginning to end, there was so much to feast your eyes on but there's only so much you can take. After a while I just wanted it to be over. We weren't able to see the gardens anymore since the rain was incessant. Instead, we trudged the short distance to the closer of the 2 train stations while eating our baguettes, French style.. When in France and all that. :)
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