Many of the main tourist attractions in Paris require an advanced reservation. In addition to making a reservation, a time slot must be chosen for entry, which undoubtedly helps control crowds but makes our trip planning a bit like a puzzle. The Louvre Museum is open on Friday nights, so we locked in a 6:30 admission a couple of weeks before the trip. We knew we wanted to visit Versailles on the same day but held off on locking ourselves into a specific time.
That indecision proved useful as everyone was tired enough on Thursday night that we didn’t want to lock ourselves into an early morning. We decided to make our reservation for 11:30, but that still meant we had to be on a train by 10:00 a.m. While the rest of the family was sleeping, I walked to a well-rated nearby bakery for a couple of croissants and a baguette to share for breakfast.
The girls were sound asleep at 9:00 a.m., when I returned from the bakery.
Both train rides were smooth, and the “RER” C train to Versailles was much less crowded than we’d expected. We were nervous near the end of our ride that we hadn’t purchased the right tickets (and would receive a hefty fine as we did in Rome) but our tickets scanned properly and the officer confirmed we had the right passes to cover the Versailles train.
Paris has an extensive network of public transportation, and looking for directional signs is key to navigating transfers.
Waiting for the “RER” C train to go to Versailles.
Before we entered the palace, we snapped a few photos in front of the gold Versailles gates.
We started our Versailles visit in the Chateau, the extravagant palace that was inhabited by Louis XIV and his successors. Amanda and I listened to Rick Steves’ audio tour as we walked through the palace rooms, and once we figured out we were in the right spots to match the descriptions, it added great context to what we saw. Unfortunately, rooms can be closed from time to time and we weren’t able to see a couple of significant parts of the palace: the grandiose Royal Chapel and the King’s Bedroom.
We took the most inside photos within the Hall of Mirrors.
The girls constantly wanted turns taking photos with our iPhone cameras. This shot was captured by Eilidh.
At the end of our walking tour, we made a lunch stop at the snack counter at Restaurant Angelina which was on the palace’s first floor. The girls were disappointed with the hot chocolate, which in their defense was quite thick and bitter. Amanda, Noah, Emmie, and I liked their sandwiches fine, while Eilidh seemed to think everything we tried was inedible. I thoroughly enjoyed the odd texture but sweet taste of the Mont Blanc dessert, which was famous to the region and Angelina tea shop in particular.
The palace gardens were recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook but seemed less appealing on a drizzly day in November than they would have likely been closer to summer. The Google Maps walking route through the garden took us to a dead-end, so we ended up spending a solid 30 minutes traversing the property to the Petit Trianon. Most famously home to Marie Antoinette, we breezed through the rooms in the uncrowded building to conclude our time on the Versailles campus.
Eilidh (and Emmie, not pictured) loved seeing the swans along our walks.
Outside the gates of the Petit Trianon.
This photo probably reflected a bit of reality. We’d had a long couple of days!
A light rain had begun after our self-guided Petit Trianon tour was finished, and our attempts for an Uber pickup to take us back to the Versailles train station were unsuccessful. We walked a mile-plus through town and made a couple of stops before our return trip to Paris: the girls picked out Eiffel Tower keychains for souvenirs for their friends and classmates, while Noah and I tried Starbucks in France. I sampled a gingerbread latte that included olive oil, a new concept the company had been rolling out but I’d not yet seen in midwestern locations. It tasted far better than I expected.
Our return trip to Paris was uneventful, and we had a little time to relax in our apartment before venturing into the city to visit the Louvre Museum in the evening.
