Day 14 A Visit to Vesrailles

Today was a trip out of Paris to the Palace of Versailles (or the Chateau de Versailles et Trianon).  You might be mistaken by the use of the word 'chateau' into thinking Versailles was a house/mansion.  Versailles was magnificent as a palace and the gardens can be measured in hectares (acres for some).  The major building was developed over the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI (particularly original naming of monarchs for almost a century!! I thought the French were creative!).  Napoleon also chipped in with some development.

The main buidings included bedrooms, ante-rooms, waiting rooms, ballrooms and a royal opera.  one of the most famous rooms is the 'Hall of Mirrors'.  The display of wealth goes to excess!  So much gold, marble and art works.  It is still beautiful today but in its prime the palace would have been amazing.

The Hall of Mirrors - formerly the Grande Gallery: this served as a passagewy and a meeting place.

We eventually made our way back to Paris and prepared for our last night in the capitol.  This required selecting a suitable bottle of champagne.

We can vouch that this is a 'nice drop' of champers!!

After dinner, we took said champagne, baguette and cheese to the Champ de Mars (which is the park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower).  We sat there with our friends, Neil and Fiona, sipping champagne whilst waiting for the hour to strike... On the hour the Tower does a twinkle for 5 minutes!  We think that looks pretty special.

The four Aussies in front of the Tower!

Finish the champagne and back to the Hotel.

 Tomorrow, we will try driving in France.