From the Cinque Terre we decided to head to Paris before getting the overnight ferry from La Havre to Portsmouth giving us a chance to see the sights staying in a AirBnB within minutes of the palace of Versailles.
To break the journey we had a quick stop over with Mel in Switzerland and got into Versailles at 6pm, and immediately hopped onto a train into the centre of Paris. We had not expected to be able to get up the Eiffel Tower but luckily the queue wasn’t too excessive and we were at the top just after 10pm to see the lights twinkling.
At 300m the Eiffel Tower has to be the most impressive tower we have been up on this trip. It’s not the oldest by a long shot but because the industrial structure is all on show you get a good idea of how it’s put together, especially if you take a walk down the stairs. The view from the top was excellent but the crowds make it quite hard to take in without getting a bit jostled. We were expecting to take the 11:40 train back to Versailles but unfortunately, due to the unseasonably high temperatures, the rail network was shutdown at 11 leaving us with the prospect of 3 separate buses to ride back to our accommodation. Uber to the rescue and we were whisked back in air conditioned comfort in about 20 minutes. Beck has a conversation with the driver in broken French which goes something like this: SNCF (French national train company) are ‘zeros’ (his words) as they can’t operate in hot weather; hot weather is due to climate change which leads us on to the drivers view of Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Change agreement (‘stupide!’) which then leads us on to Brexit (‘madness’, says Beck, to vigorous agreement from our driver). At which point we all lapse into silence – conversational abilities and relevant topics exhausted!
Up early for croissants from the local bakery and we are back onto the train into Paris to see the sights in daylight. By the time we get to our first stop of the Arc de Triomphe Ben is starting to wilt in the heat. We bus it over to Sacre Coeur and both are in need of air conditioning and a drink before the caricatures in Place du Tertre. About 100m and we are done by the heat so have to stop for lunch before another Uber to see the Louvre. It’s all beautiful but the heat is proving a bit much and we want to save ourselves for Versailles tomorrow so retreat to our accommodation.
Refreshed and ready to see Versailles we head into the gardens which open at 8am to find no queues, in fact the gardens are mainly populated by joggers. What an amazing backdrop for your morning run!
As the main palace opens at 9am we head back with a bit of spare time to avoid the queue as we want to get to see the Hall of Mirrors without the masses. Unfortunately we aren’t the only people with this idea and the queue has already formed. The bell strikes 9am and in we file, but rather than take in the interpretation panels and the royal chapel, we steam on past everyone and are the first to the Hall of Mirrors. Back when this was built in the late 18th century mirrors were a very expensive commodity but they are employed here in abandon, duplicating the many chandeliers, windows and gold leaf. It’s a good strategy as we get to take in the Palace almost to ourselves, looping back to the start whereupon we catch up with the hoards that have been streaming in behind us. The interpretation is very interesting showing how the palace has been built up over time with models and 3d animations. It can all be taken in even though it’s busy. By the time we get back round to the Hall of Mirrors it’s heaving with large guided groups. This isn’t listed as a busy day on the website and it’s hard to see how people are taking much in. We think that a busy day would not be much fun at all.
Having explored the palace twice, we head over to Marie-Antoinette’s hamlet. The 45 minute walk is exausting. The temperatures hit 39C, topping off a week of heat, but there are numerous orange juice sellers to keep us hydrated.
Our tickets give us entry for two days and since some of the fountains are flowing on the Friday we spend that day exploring the gardens. The high temperatures have broken and somehow it’s nearly 20C cooler which is bliss.