This morning we were up and organised for the 9am start only to find that
there was some sort of strike meeting on at the palace and opening
was delayed until about 10.30am. Kent is off his leg at the moment
and has to get about on his crutches, the staff here at the palace
were magnificent. The day was rainy and the cobbles uneven, wet and
slippery so when we had to make our way across from the entrance to a
cafe to wait for the opening the security girls put him in their car
and drove him across. They gave him a wheelchair to race about the
palace in and escorted him up and down lifts etc. Though its a pain
getting about on one leg one good thing is there is no waiting in
lines and the lines at these places get very very long. We saw
everything inside top story of the palace aided by a great audio
guide then headed down through the gardens to look at the Grand and
Petite Trianon palaces. It wasn't raining too much not to appreciate
the huge grounds, fountains and gardens. Back to the Versaille palace
and a look around the Dauphin and his sisters very sumptuous
apartments then to a Science and Curiosties exhibition which they had
to kick us out of at 5.30 for closing.
A
pass to see everything in Versailles – the palace, the Trianons and
Marie-Antoinettes estate costs €18
per person and parking for a whole day is about the same. Another
amazing thing was that for disabled it is all free...
We
had used couchsurfing to find a place to stay while visiting Paris
and met Nazih an Algerian university student in front of the palace
at the of his working day and we drove to his apartment in student
accommodation nearby. He loves to travel and we had lots to talk
about while he whisked us up an italian meal, Nazih loves all things
Italian especially the soccer there.
To
see our photos http://cjb.pascoe.net.nz/ (click
on or copy and paste into browser)
