Versailles - hmmmm

Today was our last full day in Paris and we had one last tourist thing to tick off - Versailles.

Versailles is located about 25kms out of town so we worked out the train lines and hopped on the subway (not the metro) which took us out to where we had to be. All very easy and simple, the stations usually have someone who can help you with the tickets. We made the 15 minute walk at the other end to the main gate and passed through the usual security checks.

Versailles is of course the royal Palace with loads of history. It survived the Revolution and both World Wars and it is very impressive. Lots of gold, amazing architecture, artworks, statues, and of course the gardens. It is on every tourist’s list of things to see in Paris.

How would I describe it?

Disappointing.

The palace and grounds themselves are amazing but the management of the massive numbers of tourists is gets was very poor. I don’t just mean the crowds - they actually weren’t too bad when we were there - it was more how they manage everyone’s experience when they visit. Really bad.

Anyway this is a public blog so not going to say much more.

By the time we finished walking through the palace it was blowing a gale and raining so we skipped the gardens (that weren’t open anyway (see earlier comment) and headed back into town.

We stopped at our favourite cafe for a drink and snack before going back to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow.Read more