Versailles

My roommate Nozomi got up super early to head out to Versailles. I tried to as well, but even though I was up at 7:30 and ready to leave in an hour it didnt put a dent in my time at Versailles. I didnt realize this when I booked my ticket, but this day a holiday in France- everyone and their dog (and crying baby) is here today.

(Side note: breakfast is included at my hostel, but they mean a Parisian breakfast- croissant, baguettes, jam and butter, oh and really bad coffee and watered down juice. Wont do that again)

It takes about 45 minutes to get to Versailles from Paris with 1 connection to the RER C to Chateau Versailles. I find my way no problem and soon I'm on my way, with about a billion other people.
I arrive at the station in Versailles, hang a right until I hit a grand boulevard, then turn left and there it is, at the end of the street. PS, Boulevard- you dont know the true meaning of this word until you see Paris. One of our boulevards (Canadian) in Paris is a sidewalk. Parisian boulevards are a 4 lane highway.

Arrive at Versailles and que up with the rest of the cattle....make it through security and into the front courtyard. The signage is not the best, as I have discovered is the norm in Paris. I missed the proper entrance the first go around, and made it to the gardens first. It was kind of spitting rain a bit, and you had to have a separate ticket for the gardens, which I did have, so I got to walk past all the confused people who didnt realize they needed this. They were doing construction on the main lower courtyards so they weren't good for pictures, but off to the left I found the neat shrub garden, no idea what this is called. But this is only a very small part of the gardens.

Versailles gardens span for miles and include summer homes of the king and a little cottage that could be a roman temple for one of the kings courtiers. I think the gardens were my favorite part. They had fountains and on a beautiful night it would be so nice to just wander.
Inside the chateau you have several parlours all done very matchy matchy- walls, furniture, bedspread, all the same. For further information please see the guide book or go yourself. There is an audio guide, but this was terribly frustrating as it was not user friendly.

I was getting a raging headache by noon due to the fact that my brain was going through caffine withdrawal. In addition to that I've discovered that like my mom, I have a strong reaction to cigarette smoke, which is everywhere in Paris. It makes me want to kill people. Yeah, so I should probably go.....

I stop at the gift shop and look for my coffee table book, find the one I want and head out.
I need to get lunch first though, so I stop at a creperie and am surprised to find the service much better than in Paris. I got my coffee and water and only had to ask for it once. I order a breakfast buckwheat crepe because I'm missing the food I'm used to. It has ham, cheese and a fried egg in the middle- yum. As well I order chocolate ice cream for desert as I likely wont be coming back to Versailles..... ever.

Get myself back on the train and head home, I'm tired.