Paris Day 10: Versailles and more.

The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.

It was a gray and cloudy morning, Genna and I headed to the RER for a visit to the huge palace of Versailles. Bob opted for a slower morning and time at his favorite Navy museum in Paris.

It took only 30 minutes to get to Versailles and there were plenty of helpful people showing us where to buy tickets and the path to the palace.

It's only a 5 minute walk to the gates.

We had to wait in a security line for almost 30 minutes, our museum passes did not help here. I was surprised how many people were there on a cloudy Friday.

We spent time in all four areas of this immense estate. Inside the main palace we were overwhelmed by the opulence: gild, marble, chandeliers abound.

Here is detail from one of Marie Antoinette's beds.

The palace was quite crowed so we hopped on a little shuttle and headed for the "smaller" outbuildings of the Grand and Petit Trianons. These were places the king and queen went to chill. While beautifully decorated they were certainly more calming than the frenetic style of the main palace.
Here is the queen's bedroom at her Petit Trianon.

 Marie had a view of this beautiful bandstand out of the bedroom window above.

Here is a lovely portrait of her.

 

There were lots of gardens around all the palaces, here were some gardening tools in a display case at the Petit Trianon.

 It was a cold day but the Petit Trianon had no indoor place to eat so Genna and I braved the chill to eat lunch from their tea room takeway.

Two tasty quiches with greens.

Tiny bottle of oil and vinegar for the greens.

Brrr, thank goodness for espresso.

It's amazing to me that the food concessions at most parks and attractions are given to quality food vendors. This one was run by Angelina's Tearoom, a very chic tearoom on the Rue de Rivoli.

Marie had a small hamlet built with a working farm and dairy. It is so cute and picturesque with its thatched roofs and exposed beams.

This is one of ten building in the hamlet.

Artichokes.

Chickens !!

From the hamlet we strolled back toward the Petit Trianon and off toward the Grand Trianon.

This charming building was used by the king in the summer to taste the products of the dairy.

Here is the Grand Trianon.

The music room.

As we were walking back we stunned to see these dashing Frenchmen on horseback.

Bob's day: first a selfie from Les Invalides.

 Then this great shot of the Eiffel Tower.

These are the fountains at the Palais de Chaillot.

 Inside the Navy museum: Fresnel and his lens.

 Early diving suit, bet that weighs a ton !!

 

Big ship models !!!

When Genna and I arrived back to the flat, Bob had kindly made dinner. He even did some shopping on his own. We never get tired of cheese, bread and salad here.