Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
For the last day of our first free-travel week, Becky, Shandra, and I decided to visit the famous Versailles palace and gardens, quaintly named 'Chateau Versailles'.
After stowing our bags at the train station in preparation for our departure to Barcelona later that evening, we took a local train to the nearby town of Versailles to see the palace. Upon arrival, we were pleased to find we only had to stand in line for tickets for about an hour - which Becky and I spent sketching small parts of the back of the palace, to keep ourselves busy and apparently provide entertainment, as the people behind us kept leaning in to see what we were doing.
Preferring to wander on our own, instead of joining a live tour or toting about the rather monstrous programmed listening devices that we've been seeing everywhere, we immediately took off into the palace. The palace is absolutely amazing - according to a snatch of conversation I overheard, the frescoes were the work of mainly one artist, and they were his life's work - not at all surprising, as some of the rooms must have taken years to plan and paint. All of the frescoes are painted in perfect perspective, so that they look like a three-dimensional continuation of the room, rather than flat paintings.
After the palace, we took the rest of the day to see the gardens, specifically the famous Petit Trianon, the residence of Marie Antoinette, including a her very own charming village and farm, among other features.
We headed back to Paris in plenty of time to catch our train to Barcelona to meet up with the group tomorrow.
- comments