Versailles: A Visit to the King’s Private Apartments, Part 1.

It’s a little embarrassing to admit, given my longstanding interest in the place and the fact that I have a degree in French, that I didn’t visit Versailles, or even Paris, until April of this year. Basically, I was distracted for nearly 20 years by my work and travels in Asia, which you can read more about on my other blog and gallery website, Lotus & Persimmon.

I’m happy to say that Versailles lived up to 30 years of expectation.  My visit did not proceed quite as planned, though.  I had devised a very specific program for myself:

Day 1: Take a midday train from Paris to Versailles; check in to my hotel; scout the town; but my tickets for the Chateau for the next day; wander in the gardens of the Chateau; dine in the town; turn in early.

Day 2: Join a guided tour of the Private Apartments; see the State Rooms; have lunch in the town; see Mesdames’ Apartments; visit the Musee Lambinet in the town; dine in the town again; turn in early.

Day 3: Visit the Trianons in the morning; have lunch in town; take an early afternoon train back to Paris.

Needless to say there was a fly in the ointment, which in this case was the weather.  Late March and early April 2016 were very wet in France (and Portugal, as I subsequently experienced).  I saw very little of the gardens because of the frequent downpours, and by the end of Day 2 I simply abandoned the idea of visiting the Trianons, which was just as well because the Chateau was closed on Day 3 due to a transport strike!  I was lucky even to make it back to Paris.

Versailles from the garden on a rainy day.