Palace of Versailles (catch up post from 2 days ago)

hope you all enjoyed the Paris pictures in my previous post, if you didn't get a chance to check them out, make sure to scroll down and view them, you don't want to miss them! i did want to send out my Versailles pictures and take you through a little bit of that day.


i woke up early on Wednesday to take a hot shower at my hotel and get ready for what was about to ensue - an all day, rainy bike ride in cold temps to the palace of Versailles. I got to the Fat Tire Bike shop around 8:45am for the 9:00 trip, and there were only 4 other people there...and that is all that showed up. the Sunday bike ride had 26 people on it, but a lot of folks either decided to stay home or flat out didn't decide to sign up because of the 70-80% chance of rain...but luckily it was not yet raining as of 9:00am.


our tour guide Adam addressed our group of five and made the statement "as I look up at the [dark, black, gloomy] sky, I'm feeling good about today, I don't think it's gonna rain on us." it proceeded to start raining just 5 minutes after this optimistic statement and continued the rest of the day. i had worn a t-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a jacket, a rain coat, and 2 pairs of gloves, but it was still pretty darn cold and miserable.

the trip is supposed to go something like this: bike from paris to the RER train station, load your bikes on the train and take a short 20 minute train ride out to Versailles. then bike another 20 minutes or so to the large Versailles marketplace to purchase goods for a picnic lunch in the Versailles Gardens later in the afternoon. we did all of that, only it was raining on us the entire time, not an all out drenching downpour, not a drizzle, but just a constant rain that never quit.


on our trip was a newly married couple (old guy married to a girl way to young for him, neither of them that attractive - AKA ugly, oddly matched couple) and a Dutch woman and her 12 year old daughter (i do not comment on the looks of moms and/or their underage daugthers). before entering the Versailles market, we were asked to take a vote - either eat in a Versailles cafe, or proceed with the normal tour and purchase goods for a picnic in the Gardens, as the two other groups really couldn't make up their mind (I was indifferent), our guide, Adam, decided we would picnic as normal. i proceeded immediately to the wine shop and purchased a full bottle of wine, then went and got the obligatory french baguette and some cheese from a fromagerie.

we were the ONLY people that actually were in the Gardens (except for one bad french jogger who passed) and we leaned up against some trees to try and shield us from some of the rain and to keep our asses dry from the soggy ground. i polished off over half of my bottle of wine (hey, i was trying to keep warm) and ate about 3/4 of my baguette. honestly, even though it was raining and i was freezing cold, who all can say that they had a picnic in the rain in the gardens of Versailles? pretty neat.

we then finished off the rest of what was to see around the gardens (the Hamlet, the king & queens apartments, etc) and then biked back to the famous Palace of Versailles to take in the sights of the glorious palace - gold everywhere, perfectly manicured gardens, perfectly squared-off trees, the Hall of Mirrors, dozens of chandeliers, etc. it was also nice to get inside and warm up. after the audioguide tour and about 1.5 - 2 hours, we were back on the bikes on our way home. the end.


-zack!


check out full pictures from my tour to Versailles below (complete with a few captions/comments):

Versailles Trip