Europe Trip 2015 - Day Ten

Had to be up reasonably early to leave by 7:30  as we had a bike tour to Versailles commencing at 9 am for which we had to meet 15 minutes early at St Lazare. Actually had no difficulty taking the metro and arrived 20 minutes earlier than necessary. Would hate to have been carrying luggage though.

Our guide was Thibault who had been working for Blue Bike Tours for three months. The missus was almost left behind as she went to buy water and Thibault said that we should leave as early as possible. Train ride from St Lazare to Versailles took 45 minutes, at least. There were two Aussies (us), two English and 10 Americans on the tour. First stop was the markets to purchase our picnic lunch - bread, cheese (two kinds), strawberries and juice.

Ate salmon and choc banana crepes at the markets. Nearly had to leave the missus behind as she had to go to the toilet at the time we planned to walk to the bike garage. Honestly, hard to tour with someone that causes everyone to be late. He he. Obtained our personalised bikes and ventured into the grounds of the Palace of Versailles.

Best crepes, that we had, in Paris

Bike tour to Versailles

 From the Grand Canal you can see the palace building in the distance. Rode through some of the 2000 acres estate with Thibault stopping to give us history lessons along the way. Picnic held at the west end of the Grand Canal.

Palace of Versailles from the Grand Canal

Picnic lunch

 Kind of rushed the tour of the Grand Trianon by keeping it to 30 minutes but the Petit Trianon, the private residence of Marie Antoinette, wasn't too bad. The small farm built for her enjoyment was interesting. The tour then took us back to the garage to return the bikes before walking to the palace entrance. Here Thibault bade us farewell after providing us with audio guides. The tour was quite enjoyable and a worthy experience.

Inside the Grand Trianon

The gardens at the Grand Trianon could do with a little bit of water

Stylish bedroom

Inside the Petit Trianon

Quite well colour coordinated

Small farm built for the pleasure of Marie Antoinette

 Palace of Versailles - what an extravagant an gorgeous building. Incredible. Toured upstairs and flattened the phone battery taking photos. Bumped into our fellow tourists a few times. Lots of Chinese tourists at the palace - busloads of them.

Entrance to the Palace of Versailles

One of the main halls

Incredible ceiling

Exquisite artwork

Gold, gold, gold

The Hall of Mirrors was crowded

The Hall of Mirrors without so many visitors on display

Camouflage?

Managed to photograph a room without anybody in the shot

Just look at the ceiling, chandeliers, artwork, etc

Bought some meat in the markets on the way back to the train station. Even though I said exactly what I wanted in French the lady repeated it to herself before she understood. Quite funny as she didn't need to correct me. Must be my accent. Very hot train back to St Lazare and we baked in the afternoon sun. Luckily we missed what appeared to be a 60 minutes delay at the time we arrived. Just made it to Esprit, in the huge shopping area within the train station, before they closed and bought some clothes. Didn't arrive home until 8~8:30. Not many shops open but bought some fruit.

Dinner in the garden at 9 pm. Spaghetti, tomato, apple, beef sausage, Cantonese rice and marinated pork. Yum.