If your last name is Galbraith don’t bother going to Versailles! I had great difficulty getting to this palace. It a full day journey since it is an hour outside of the city. Right off the bat I had a hard enough time finding the proper metro station to leave from. I got to the write platform and see there are a number of other tourists around me waiting for the train to arrive….and we keep waiting. Then an announcement comes on in French. I could translate enough of the message to understand that something just ain’t right. So I asked around. The train is delayed for 2 hours! At this point a ‘mini tour group to Versailles’ if formed:) A photo of the group is below: A mother and daughter from Austrailia and a couple from Washington DC. Through a maze of finding other metro lines, receiving inaccurate information from misinformed attendants, we moved out of the metro system and onto the train line to Versailles. By the time we arrived we said we may have been better off to wait the 2 hours for the delayed train…..but, we decided lets never speak of that again and just be happy we made it!
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| Mini Tour Group of Versailles |
The funny thing about this for me is my x-in laws John and Gayle, have been to Versailles twice and BOTH times it was CLOSED!!! The first time was due to a strike and I am guessing the second time it was because it was a Monday (lots of museums are closed on Mondays). Obviously, if your last name is Galbraith you are cursed in your pursuit to Versailles!
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Angel D and the Hall of Mirrors
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| View of the fountain area and the palace gardens |
So, now to the palace. Its huge, and beautiful but I was more impressed with the gardens and the landscape. I must admit I have been a bit spoiled. A few years ago Darryl and I were in Munich for Oktoberfest and rented a car to go to Salzburg. On the way we visited a palace on a lake built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig was know as a “fantasy king” (he was a little out there) and built a replica of the palace and the grounds as a tribute to King Louis XIV of France. Unfortunately, Ludwig II died during construction and ran out of money. The 2 palaces and the gardens look almost the same, Ludwig’s is just missing the wings on the right and left.
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| This is a photo of Darryl and the replica in Bavaria (2006) |
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| Photo of the real Versailles in France |
