Today was proof of how changeable spring weather can be. A few days ago in Paris the temperature was over 80. Today the high temperature was 57.
But, that’s good because the sun was shining and cool weather is ideal for exploring the gardens of Versailles. Before we started our walk we stopped for some breakfast.
Today is Monday, so the Palace of Versailles and the Estate of Trianon were closed. We were also told that the gardens would be closed but apparently that just meant the fountains weren’t running. We were able to walk all over the gardens. We circumnavigated the Grand Canal. It was wonderful. We walked for a total of eight miles today! Versailles is so big! I knew that Versailles was big from what I had read. But the scale of everything still blew me away.
Walking 8 miles was easy because it was flat, easy walking with lots of interesting things to see. The grand canal, laid out between 1668 and 1679 measures 60 metres wide, 1,700 metres east-west and 1,000 metres north-south! And there were very few people because it’s Monday.
A very nice older woman (probably our age) talked to us a bit when we were standing by the Apollo Fountain. She told us that they had regilded the fountain for the Olympics and that some of the events were held here at Versailles. She was so nice. I apologized for my French being so bad and she said at least you make an effort. It made my day!
After we finished most of our walk we had coffee and enjoyed the setting.
For dinner we went to a wonderful little bistro, La Tour. The ambiance was absolutely prefect and our steaks were so good!
Tomorrow we pick up another rental car and head west.
Marion's Blog 