For day 2, we had planned to visit the much famed Versailles palace in the morning and Mont Marte by evening. A long metro ride with multiple changes finally took us there. The sole of one of my shoes chose this time to come off and the husband went hunting for super glue. After multiple attempts at explaining verbally and with actions, he finally googled the french word and successfully bought 'Colle'.
In the meanwhile, kid and I were waiting at a bus stop with the chilly winds attacking us. Kid is a polar bear like his dad and was sitting like it was a nice sunny day but poor me was literally shivering inspite of the thermal wear and heavy jacket. Husband was back, shoe sole was attached and we walked past a beautiful boulevard to reach the Versailles.
Kid and I had our before lunch dabba of Puliogare at the waiting area . After purchasing tickets, we joined the long line for the phased entry. Suddenly lady luck smiled and a tour group came and offered us priority passes to the palace and garden grounds for free since they had people who had not turned up. After a bit of hesitation, we took them, walked straight to the front of the snaking line and were instantly let in. Wow! So this was really happening :)
After handing in excess baggage at the security counter, we picked an audio guide each. The audio guide was the sole reason we survived through the crowded tour. Not for the details it rattled out about each area but because the kid used it as his personal phone and played with it all through. That kept him distracted from the huge mass of people moving from one ornate room to another.
The palace itself was charmingly old world and had very beautiful paintings covering the walls and ceilings too.
Post the palace tour, we stepped out into the garden. Instead of listening to our common sense and kid who had pretty much had enough of the place, we ventured into the gardens since our pass included it anyway. The gardens of Versailles are HUGE and a small toy train took people from one stop to another. Again, the train was the saving grace as far as kid was concerned. He settled down only after we told him that we could ride it multiple times.
The Versailles palace gardens are probably one of the best maintained in the world. But their sheer size, the fact that they were manicured to milllimeter precision and the absence of people in most of the places gave it a very sad ghost town like air. The chilly dry weather added to this discomfort. Having somehow managed the kid through this, we finally stepped out of the palace and into the populated roads. Now, this looked much more beautiful, warm and welcoming! The royals might have pretty much felt the same way I guess. That one of the queens had a village replicated for her inside the humungous Versailles palace grounds stands testimony to this ! 'Poor' guys. Wealth isn't everything after all!
Once out in the streets, we walked down a very quaint little road filled with restaurants, scouring menus. We finally settled into one and were soon eating steaming Pizza accompanied by hot chocolate. After that restful snack, we strolled through the neighbouring areas for a while, enjoying the boulevards and flower framed window sills.
After another long metro ride, we reached our apartment, dead tired after walking all around the Versailles, bracing the dry and chilly winds. We all took a much needed long nap. As much as I badly wanted to visit Mont Marte to walk around its lanes and watch the much famed french artists at work, I simply did not have any energy left and I convinced the husband that we call it a day. So kid sat down with his colours and we sat by the window with chai.
We then stepped out to buy a few supplies and I totally loved the relaxed walk, gazing at all the colourful shops and many bakeries wafting out enticing smells of the world famous French baked goodies. After getting back, we cooked and ate a quick dinner. The next day was going to be our last day in Paris and we had all the important 'must see' places in our itinerary. After a little cleaning and repacking, we brought the curtains down on day 2.
In the meanwhile, kid and I were waiting at a bus stop with the chilly winds attacking us. Kid is a polar bear like his dad and was sitting like it was a nice sunny day but poor me was literally shivering inspite of the thermal wear and heavy jacket. Husband was back, shoe sole was attached and we walked past a beautiful boulevard to reach the Versailles.
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| The Boulevard en route |
After handing in excess baggage at the security counter, we picked an audio guide each. The audio guide was the sole reason we survived through the crowded tour. Not for the details it rattled out about each area but because the kid used it as his personal phone and played with it all through. That kept him distracted from the huge mass of people moving from one ornate room to another.
The palace itself was charmingly old world and had very beautiful paintings covering the walls and ceilings too.
Post the palace tour, we stepped out into the garden. Instead of listening to our common sense and kid who had pretty much had enough of the place, we ventured into the gardens since our pass included it anyway. The gardens of Versailles are HUGE and a small toy train took people from one stop to another. Again, the train was the saving grace as far as kid was concerned. He settled down only after we told him that we could ride it multiple times.
The Versailles palace gardens are probably one of the best maintained in the world. But their sheer size, the fact that they were manicured to milllimeter precision and the absence of people in most of the places gave it a very sad ghost town like air. The chilly dry weather added to this discomfort. Having somehow managed the kid through this, we finally stepped out of the palace and into the populated roads. Now, this looked much more beautiful, warm and welcoming! The royals might have pretty much felt the same way I guess. That one of the queens had a village replicated for her inside the humungous Versailles palace grounds stands testimony to this ! 'Poor' guys. Wealth isn't everything after all!
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| At one of the many 'polished to perfection' garden spots |
After another long metro ride, we reached our apartment, dead tired after walking all around the Versailles, bracing the dry and chilly winds. We all took a much needed long nap. As much as I badly wanted to visit Mont Marte to walk around its lanes and watch the much famed french artists at work, I simply did not have any energy left and I convinced the husband that we call it a day. So kid sat down with his colours and we sat by the window with chai.
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| Our in house miniature Da Vinci :) |
