When planning our trip, Versailles, was one of the top places we wanted to visit in Ile De France.  Like a lot of people, we were wondering what condition it would be in after the December storms.  After breakfast at "our" neighborhood restaurant, we took off to see for ourselves.  But before that, allow me to let you in on a little "secret."  When you go to take the RER to Versailles, they've got it set to mess with tourists' minds (not that that isn't difficult).  We took the Metro 8 line to the connecting RER station (it was Invalides, where you seem to walk several miles underground between trains).  As we were a little behind schedule, we were jogging towards the platform when my wife saw the message board flashing that the train for Versailles was boarding, so we promptly jumped on board.  I collapsed in my chair only to notice that it looked like we were going the wrong way, but Kathie was certain this train said Versailles, so I figured we were going in the right direction.  Next stop, however, was Musee D'Orsay - definitely in the WRONG direction.  We jumped off the train and after about ten minutes of me waffling between which direction was correct, I finally realized that BOTH directions went to Versailles, but that my instincts were right and we wanted to go in the opposite direction on an RER marked Versailles-Rive Gauche.  Apparently there are three train stations for Versailles, but this one turned out to be clearly the quickest. 

In our 30+ years, both Kathie and I have done a fairly extensive amount of traveling and seen quite a few castles and palaces.  The sheer magnitude of Versailles blows them ALL away!  The incredible part of the whole day was that we spent about six hours touring and exploring and still had only seen a fraction of the palace.  As you visit it, you have to keep reminding yourself that this wasn't just some king's ostentatious house (which it was!), but was also France's seat of government and a city unto itself for 20,000 people.

We took the tour of the king's quarters and the Hall of Mirrors, using the CD players they loan out to get the full story on each room.  Let me just say, if you like the Baroque period, THIS is the place for you.  Gold, gold, and more gold!  At one point, I found my sense of awe in the artistry of the palace being overwhelmed by the greed and materialism of the era, and this coming from someone who is slightly materialistic!  Even though I had majored in European History in college, I still was overwhelmed by sense of ludicrousness (is that a word?) as the CD Guide described how officials were carried around in sedan chairs INSIDE the palace!  You really can start developing an understanding of how the French psyche evolved to the French Revolution and the chaotic and bloody nineteenth century.  As we continued to explore the apartments of the Dauphin (Crown Prince), the décor lost much of the gild and Kathie and I were able to enjoy more of the artistry present in the room. 

Afterwards, we went out to see if the stories of destruction in the park from the storms two months prior were true.  Alas, they were.  When I was sixteen years old, I was living in Florida and we had a hurricane hit us that Fall.  During the storm, a tornado went through our backyard and knocked down sixteen trees, with damage being much the same throughout the town.  Well, compared to Versailles, that hurricane damage was NOTHING!  By the time we visited Versailles, two months had past since the storm had hit and it still looked like a giant child had thrown a temper tantrum!  You couldn't look in a single area without seeing 100's of trees violently uprooted!  Probably the most telling example of the destruction was around the Petite Trianon, where Marie Antoinette had her "playground."

This was the one section of the parkland they had opened up to the public.  Kathie and I took the tram to the rear of the park.  As you take the main road back, you enter through a little gate to get to the Trianon.  From here, it is about 250 yards up to the lodge.  We figured there used to be about sixty or seventy trees lining the road prior to the storm.  When we saw it, there were about EIGHT left!  The French had done some cleaning up, but most of the area looked in shambles.  Truly heart-breaking.

By now, it was late in the afternoon, so we started making our way through the village, walking back to the train station.  After a very sleepy train ride back to the city, we grabbed a bite to eat and proceed back to the hotel to pass out from exhaustion. 

Tomorrow: The Other Palaces