2 June 2002

We went to the Palace of Versailles yesterday. We met our tour guide, Mireck, at St. Michelle. From there we went with him to the RER station and took a 40-minute train ride out to the town of Versailles. We couldn’t use our Orange Cards (Carte Orange) for that particular trip on the RER (Our cards only cover areas 1 and 2 of the Metro/RER routes, and Versailles is past those areas.) However, Mireck already had the tickets we needed, so there wasn’t a problem. Once we got to Versailles, we had to wait about 20 minutes before we were able to get inside. It’s a good thing we brought our museum passes with us, because as it turns out, we needed them to get inside.

Mireck was a really good guide. He took us through the King’s bedroom, the Queen’s bedroom, the Hall of Mirrors, and several other rooms.

After the tour, we said goodbye to Mireck and headed towards the gardens. We had to hurry a bit, because our whole group had reservations for lunch at the stables. The stables at Versailles have been converted into a super-chic restaurant. It still has hayfeeders on the walls and stone floors, but the furniture and light fixtures are super-modern.

-Menu-
-Tomatoes and Motzarella cheese on a bed of mixed lettuce.
-Greenbeans
-Brown rice
-Baked tomato stuffed with bread crumbs & herbs
-Eggplant with tomato sauce
-Wheat rolls
-San Pellegrino
-Tarte Tatin

After lunch we (Mom, Sis and I) went looking for the gardens. Well, we somehow missed the gardens and ended up taking a long stroll around the "grand canal", a veeeery big spot of water at the Palace of Versailles. By the time we realized what had happened, it was too late to turn back, so we had to walk all the way around. Naturally, that had to be the day I felt the need to "dress up a little" in long dark pants and boots with 3-inch heels. Two and a half hours later, we were around the canal and heading back to the Palace where we could exit the area and walk to the train station. It must have been 90 degrees that day…I was so hot and so thirsty, I thought I was going to faint! So did everyone else who saw me! Alas, I did not faint, and got back to the apt. safely. All in all it was a good day.