Today was a road trip out to Versailles. Kelly and Jamie went during the last trip and Davin and Christal saw it on their first trip about 10 years ago. Duane and Tari were new to the palace. Kelly and Jamie planned on spending time at Mari Antoinette's section of the property while Duane and Tari saw the palace.
To get there meant a somewhat early start to the day. We needed to be over by the Louvre to catch our bus by 8 am. This meant we were leaving to catch the Metro by our neighborhood when the fishes deliveries were arriving.
It is always entertaining to see how they bring certain items to the market on Rue Cler to fill the stands. In this case, fish were brought in by ice truck to be sold. Depending on the type of fish, you could see a whole fish hanging out on the sidewalk waiting to be put on display.
We made it over to our bus pick up area right on time and waited to board the bus. The nice thing about this area of Paris is that it is right behind the Louvre so there is plenty of activity and people watching to keep you busy.
The station that we take the subway to is called Louvre- Rivoli, the great thing about it is it comes up right next to the tour company where we need to catch our bus. It is also one of our faves because the subway stop and entrance is still in that 1920s art deco style that is famous around Paris. Way more decorative than the subways in the States.Versailles
We arrived at Versailles after a 45 minute bus ride and about 10 minutes before the doors opened. Since we arrived at that time, it was nice because the line to get in was not too long, yet. We probably waited about 20 minutes to enter. If we would have arrived about 5-10 minutes later, we would have waited quite a bit longer.
Since Jamie and Kelly had just visited the palace on the last trip, the plan was to hit the gardens and other areas while the rest of the group toured the house. We made the mistake of starting in the house instead of going right to the gardens although we didn't see a way to enter the gardens directly. Jamie and Kelly had to power walk through the palace to reach the outdoor areas.
Once outside, their leisurely stroll could commence. Since we were there on a weekday, the fountains were not running as they only run on weekends.
The last time Jamie and Kelly visited, they were working on what looked to be a new garden sculpture for the great lawn. The thing was a giant piece of rusty metal that did not fit in at all with the rest of the landscape.
We were not sure if it was a temporary exhibit or if they just realized it was far too ugly to keep, but whatever the reason we were happy to see that it was no longer here two years later. The great lawn was back to it's vast open greenness.
Because the grounds are so large, Versailles offers several ways to get around. There is always the normal walking option, but they also offer more mechanical ways to get around like bikes, segways, and even golf carts.
Jamie and Kelly rented a golf cart and were able to take a very large outdoor tour in about an hour. By renting a golf cart (the French like to call them Small Electric Cars) a lot more of the garden was able to be seen as the route of the cars took you on the sides of the garden and through a lot of the "secret" areas that were built to have clandestine meetings in.
The golf cart also took you up the front of the gardens by the palace itself. The picture above is one of the most iconic pictures of gardens at Versailles as it is used on most websites, literature etc.
One of the funniest things seen while on the golf cart was a sign on one of the paths near the palace that had a sizable incline. It was a small sign that looked to say "No racing wheel chairs allowed". I think they were trying to get across the point that you have to hold on to any wheelchair, stroller, etc but it was still a funny sign to see.
From Land to Water
Once the hour was up on the golf cart, boating on the canal was next. King Louie liked Venice so much when he visited that he wanted to have his own "Little Venice" area on his grounds so he had a Grand Canal built that stretches about 2/3 of the gardens. Today, one can rent a small boat to row and enjoy the view of Versailles from the water
What makes the boat ride so relaxing was the concept that the boat was to be rowed by the gentleman while his date relaxing back against a bench on the boat. One only person can row! Jamie did a pretty good job of not rowing in a circle.
On warm sunny days and later in the afternoons, the lake gets pretty populated with row boats. Because we were there at the beginning part of the day and also on a day that had more clouds than sun, the only neighbors on the lake were a family of swans and some ducks.
This boating thing is not too bad!Lunch Surprises!
While Jamie and Kelly were boating, the rest of the group finished up their tour of the palace and met up for lunch. Jamie and Kelly joined a bit later once they were back on land. The group found a nice little place in the middle of one of the gardens to eat.
Besides being a hidden little restaurant in a garden at a tourist attraction, the food and wine choices were outstanding. The waiter recommended the duck confit for lunch, which everyone at the table was skeptical about...Really who would expect a fancy meal like confit at an outdoor place in public tourist spot???
A couple from the group took him up on his recommendation and ordered the confit, the waiter was correct! As Duane said, "This is one of the best confits I have ever had." In the states, we are lucky to have a halfway decent hamburger at a public tourist spot, let alone a meal like duck confit! The French sure know how to do food!
Along with the surprising Duck Confit, we also had few bottles of wine of course! Sancerre was pretty popular that day as it goes well with warm weather.
Besides having good wine and main courses, the restaurant also had a great raspberry ice cream dessert!
Just like in the states, there is always a line for the women's restroom!
There was one fountain that was running while we were there, called the Mirror Fountain. If you have been to Vegas and seen a Bellagio water fountain show, it is similar to this. The difference is here the fountain show is not ran by computers like in Vegas. It is all done by mechanics on the fountain heads themselves.
The picture above is quite funny. As we walked up to the Mirror Fountain there quite a few people sitting on the grass watching the show. The funny thing is that there were signs in several languages all around the fountain stating "Please do not sit on the grass" and there were people sitting right next to the sign!
From Water to Flowers
After viewing the Mirror Fountain, we made our way through some of the flower gardens and statuary gardens. The hours it takes to maintain the flower gardens makes it a non stop job. There were many workers out weeding, watering, trimming etc.
One of the more famous fountains at the Palace, Louie's fountain is decorated mostly in gold leaf turtles and could be seen from the center window of Louie's apartments in the palace.
After a long day of walking the gardens, it was time to catch our bus and head back to Paris for the evening. We had dinner reservations at Le P'tit Troquet.
Even with bad traffic in Paris, we still arrived back a few hours before dinner. The bus dropped us off at the same place that it picked us up, so it was close to the wine bar we had been to earlier in the week as well as the kitchen shop. Since Davin had just gotten to town, he missed the first trip to the kitchen shop. Duane and he went there while the rest of the group went down to the wine shop O Chateau to wait for them.
At the wine shop, the plan was to have the white Chatanuef du Pape that was on the tasting menu the last time we were there. Not realizing they updated the tasting menu and took off the du Pape we really liked we ordered the du Pape on the left above. It was okay but definitely not the one we remembered. After talking it over and looking through pictures taken on the previous day, we determined which du Pape it was and was able to get our waiter to pull one from the cellar for us. (the bottle on the right above). See it pays to take pictures of the wine you drink!
Mind the Bunny!
In England's subway system, they are always reminding people to "Mind the gap" between the train and the subway car. In France, they do it a little different and show a picture of a Bunny being smashed by the doors closing.
Earlier in the week (might have been our first day) Tari learned that lesson. She was running to get on the subway car Jamie and Kelly were already on when the doors started to close. We all thought that if you put an arm or a bag in the way of the door it would stop them from closing. NOT THE CASE! The doors continued to close, Tari was luckily able to get her arm out of the way in time, but unfortunately her shopping bag was not so lucky. It got stuck in the door but Kelly was able to yank it into the subway car with her.
Lesson learned: MIND THE BUNNY!
Dinner!
Since Davin and Christal joined the group, we wanted to make sure they experienced a few of our favorite eateries. Tonight we were dinning at Le P'tit Troquet again, so they could experience our favorites here.
Had our favorite Cotes Du Rhone again along with an interesting Pinot Noir.
We got a couple of new starters tonight, though. Tari and Jamie tried the starter special for the day, shrimp and risotto and Christal ordered the salmon rolls.
We also had a couple of tried and true starters. Duane and Kelly ordered the poached egg and smashed beans, while Davin had the rabbit terrine.
For main courses, Tari and Christal both tried the seafood bouillabaisse that was done a little different than expected. We all expected it to be in a broth when in reality it was more similar to fish with sauce on top.
Kelly ordered the Filet done Rossini style after finding out Rossini style means with foie gras on top.
All three of the guys went with the tried and true favorite of Beef Bourguignon, which is hard to pass up.
With six people, two bottles of wine is not going to last long. We added a third bottle halfway through the meal. A nice little Bordeaux that had almost as much punch as a California Cab.
To end the meal, we each had a dessert. Jamie got fancy with his and ordered the cafe gourmand which is an espresso with several mini desserts. This way you can sample more than one. And let's face it, they are cuter since they are smaller!
Kelly tried something different as well and had the special dessert of the day a lemon tart. Christal and Duane ordered a favorite from earlier in the week the strawberry and rhubarb compote and also had a very fun looking Irish coffee.
Tari and Davin decided to punish the table again by ordering the stinky cheese! This time, we verified that it was Limburger!
Go to 6/3/17
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