While the boys planned to go to the air museum today, Ash, Justine and I caught the RER train to Versailles, the final palace of the Bourbon royal family, King Louis VI and Marie Antoinette. We stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast before walking through the town of Versailles to the palace. It was amazing, completely dwarfing the grounds out the front and spreading its layers across the whole courtyard. And that was before we’d even got inside.
The rooms were filled with paintings of the royal relatives and grounds, elaborate dressers and each room had the same wallpaper in a different colour. It’s amazing how much can still be preserved, with the chandeliers and marble still glistening. We walked through the hall of mirrors where the windows and view from outside are reflected by mirrors running on the wall opposite. Once through the ballroom, we saw the King’s chamber, then the Queen’s chamber including the secret doorway where Marie Antoinette once escaped. At some stage my audio guide changed from English to Mandarin, but we cruised through rooms dedicated to Napoleon from his stay there before heading in to the garden.
The fog was clearing up as we got outside, so we could see the manicured gardens stretching out behind the palace. From the outside you could never imagine that gardens went on that far. We walked the fair distance to the Petit Trianon château where Marie Antoinette used as her summer escape. We could see the more human aspect of this building, including the kitchen, bedchambers and even bathroom. And again we were greeted with astounding gardens, this time much more natural. We were surrounded by greenery and allowed ourselves to get lost in the little pathways. It was then that we found a pond and for the next 20 minutes, contented ourselves with breaking ice and watching it smash across the frozen water, something we’ve never been able to do before. It was a lot of fun.
We headed back up the gardens and towards the palace, then once again stopped at McDonald’s before catching the train line back. We met Dean and Daniel, who had slept through their planned outing, at the Louvre museum, the old palace of the royals. There Dean, Daniel and I walked in and got lost a bit, before making our way to the famous Mona Lisa. Dean then met up with Ash and Justine again, while Daniel and I strolled along the River Seine to find a view of the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower on the Pont des Arts Bridge. It was there that we left our padlocks.
We caught the train to Sacré Cœur to meet up with the others. While about to walk up the stairs a man walked towards me and spoke gibberish while pawing at my arm. While I humoured his cries of “Hakuna Matata” Daniel yelled and pushed his arm away. This was a good thing, because after we found Ash, Dean and Justine (and struggled up a plethora of stairs) Ash told us that he was one of the string men. I had just escaped the fate of having string tied around my arm before being trapped until I gave him my money. It was a scary thought, and all too real for a few people we saw as we walked back down the stairs away from the church.
We ate a below-par meal in a restaurant nearby, where the waiter told us he was going to Australia later in the year for a wedding. We then walked Ash back to her hostel, and coincidently through the red light district and towards Moulin Rouge. It was there we said goodbye to Ash until next time, because tomorrow we leave Paris, not to see her again until Melbourne.
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