Versailles

We had an early start to the day as the owner’s son-in-law, Robert, was supposed to drop by last night and pick up the key, but called and said he would be too late and that he would be over at 8 AM if that were acceptable.

We were up and showered and ready for our day. I gave Robert the set of keys that I had been using as April had a second set of keys for the apartment. He would come over around 1:30 and empty the pail of water holding the drips in the bathroom and then he would lock the door and leave a key under the mat as he wouldn’t be able to slip it under the door.

As we headed out, we discovered that the two keys April had appeared to be duplicates and both only worked on the lower lock, but not the top one.  I went back in and wrote him a note asking that he only lock the bottom lock as we had no key for the top.

We headed out for Versailles around 8:30. We took the Metro to Les Invalides station and then transferred to the RER C train to Versailles – Rive Gauche. The trip was quick and not overly claustrophobic. The Metro was crowded, but not jammed-in-like-sardines crowded.

It was a cloudy and windy day, but the rain hadn’t come by the time we got there.  It was a bit confusing as to where we would go in. We were in line for gate A but when we got up there was a bit about who could jump the queue (and we weren’t on the list), so we were afraid we were in the wrong line. However, the only other entry I could see was for groups, so after a bit of a wander we ended up re-entering the line for gate A, though a bit further back from where we started.

The tour of the state rooms and king and queen’s bedchambers was as enjoyable as always. This was my fourth trip to Versailles but it was April’s first. The opulence of the surroundings, in contrast to the poverty of the peasants, was quite dramatic.

We had audio guides that were a bit discombobulated at first, but settled in quite well once the main part of the tour began.  Some of the rooms were quite crowded, but all in all it was bearable.  You could hear every language under the sun, it seemed.  One great advance since I was here last is that the tour guides now have microphones and private channels so that they talk quietly into the earbuds of their group members.  Years ago, it would be the German, Japanese, French, English and Russian guides all booming out their commentary so that no one could understand a word and it was just a deafening roar.

Part of the way through we stopped at the café, Angelina’s. Here’s a picture of the pastries they use to advertise their menu.  Unfortunately, we didn’t realize there were two entrances and we went to the snack side where there were fewer options for pastries.  While I would have chewed off my right arm for a raspberry tart, we had to settle on sharing a tarte limon and an éclair fraise.

Once we left the palace tour we walked out to the gardens and then decided to take the Petite Trein on its route to the Grand Trianon, the Petite Trianon, the Grand Canal, and back.

The Grand Trianon was the summer residence of the king and his immediate family. Much less ostentatious than the main Palace, it was still quite imposing.

 

The Petite Trianon was originally built by Louis XV for his mistress Madame du Berry. Later Louis XVI gave it to Marie Antoinette.  Marie did a lot of re-modelling and even had a pretend hamlet built with peasant cottages, so she could play at being a shepherdess.  We didn’t go to the hamet.

It was now around 3:30 and we hadn’t eaten in at least 2 or 3 hours, so we stopped at a creparie. April had a Savoyard crepe, with potatoes, cheese, ham and cream. I got the special which meant I got a crepe with ham, cheese and tomatoes followed by a dessert crepe with brown sugar and a ton of Chantilly cream.

Now it was time to get back on the train. There were two trains at the station and it wasn’t clear to us which was the correct one. The closest one was very crowded and there were lots of very young looking soldiers in camouflage uniforms and carrying machine guns.  April turns to the cutest one at the door and says “Does this train go to Paris?”  He says yes and she climbs up onto the train.

If only it were just that simple.  When she climbed up, she held on to the railing to help herself up.  However, there are no railings at the doors.  She had, in actuality, pulled herself up with the handle of his machine gun!  Apparently he had the safety on and didn’t perceive her as a threat!

We arrived back at the apartment and April unlocked the bottom lock and then discovered that the top was locked as well. Tabernac! What to do? She tried to open the top with each of the two keys she had, but the top wouldn’t budge. We tried the key Robert had left under the mat, but that didn’t work.  How had he locked the top? 

Sitting down in despair, we were thinking that if the key to the top lock was in the apartment, there was probably no one with access except the owner who wasn’t in town.  I had Robert's cell phone number though I knew he would be teaching in the afternoon.  I wasn’t even sure how to call it and whether I would need a French country code (and where would I get that?)

As I was routing though my bag despairing of ever getting in the apartment, somehow, magically, April opened the top lock. We don’t know how she did it and she hasn’t been able to do it again, but we got in.

When we got in the apartment, we noticed that the pail had been emptied – and was still empty! I wondered what he had done to stop the leak.  Quietly I listened and I heard the drip drip drip.  Apparently he had not put the pail close enough to the drip and so it went on the floor rather than the pail.  I don’t want to even think about how much water leaked down. He said he would be over about 1:30, so there would probably be 3 hours of leaking water.  I’m very glad they know we were at Versailles.

We only have a couple of days left in Paris and so have to determine where we still want to go (D’Orsay, Eiffel tower..) and plan our time carefully.