Eurotrip 2023: Day 12 – Versailles and Songs at Seine

Day 12 in Europe and our 4th full day in France. We have booked our tickets for Versailles was back in March, with Ikle advising it’d be best to arrive there as early as we can.

I still got the 10:00 am tickets. There’s no way we’d be there at 9:00 am considering the travel from Paris. In fact, for the Versailles day, even left at 8:20 am in Paris.

As most days we were with Ikle, I did not even bother opening the map and navigating. She’d be the boss on our travel to Versailles.

Our spirits were high with our one and only day-trip away from Paris. Although technically outside Paris, it is completely accessible via RER.

I could not recall what exactly we did with our Navigo tickets, but Ikle recommended we get the one that included zones 1-5. Totally no navigation from my end since the very beginning. I had my share of navigation nightmares in Italy.

We boarded the train and had a great view of the travel. There was even an accordéonist who was with us playing loudly. Nobody could catch a nap.

And at around 9:30 am, we arrived at Versailles Château-Rive Gauche. The exit, however, was still some distance to the actual château. It took as around 10 minutes of leisurely walk to even reach Cour d’Honneur.

In that 10 minute walk, there were several maps showing how expansive Versailles and its grounds are. Papa was not impressed. He was heard tutting, muttering under his breath of how much walk that would be.

True enough, by the time we reached its gates. He expressed he won’t be joining us around, and he’d rather stay right by the entrance and wait for us.

But before we even queued and entered, we had to make a quick comfort room break for Papa.

I mean for elderlies with a weak bladder, Rome and Paris are especially challenging. Either you pay a restaurant to use their comfort room, or take advantage of every lunch/coffee/dinner break to use one. To the left of the entrance was a café and a comfort room.

We then queued for about 15 minutes, had our tickets checked and our bags X-rayed. Then from the concierge where the audio guides were located, Papa sat down on the bench. He had not internet connection whatsoever, and he said he’d just play on his phone as we explored the château.

I was honestly kind of disappointed he decided to stay back. I thought the tickets were such a waste not having to take advantage of the opportunity to look around where so much history has taken place.

But it was already Day 12 into the trip, and it was already obvious that Papa had enough of museums or anything museum-adjacent.

Mama on the other hand was excited, although she looked disappointed too.

There were several rooms where we felt a bit rushed. It was past 10:30 pm and despite the cold weather outside the palace walls, it was sweltering inside because of the number of visitors. I could not imagine how stuffy it would be at the height of summer.

Despite my disappointment with Papa choosing to be left behind aside, I eventually shook it off and reminded myself ‘we are in Versailles‘. Everywhere in the world, the opulence of Versailles has inspired many interiors of hotels, restaurants, and even French-themed cafés.

It was undeniable that what Louis XIV and his ilk had done to influence the concept of excess everywhere. Luxury, after all, had its roots within its four walls at a time that the peasantry lived in squalor as the aristocracy lived lavishly.

Several years after, the splendor of Versailles is still being referenced for its extravagance.

I loved that Mama enjoyed going around the château as much as we did. Even with the rough start we had in the day, at least she had a great time  inside.

Still, it was worth mentioning again that the number of tourists could affect one’s experience. We have heard of people who go to Versailles first thing in the morning as it opens, or very late in the day for the crowd to subside. We unfortunately could not afford to do so given the schedule we have.

The Hall of Mirrors was a bit challenging to navigate with the number of people, and some of the crazy things taking place just for that photo.

Case in point, there was a group of Asian tourists behind me in that photo who just ‘undressed’ out of the blue, revealing a ruffle extravaganza. I got to give it to her for the Ruveal, though.

The Hall of Mirrors was still a sheer delight. When one thinks of Versailles, it is usually this hall that they have in mind.

It was also chilling to think that the Treaty of Versailles between Germany and the Allied Powers actually took place there, officially ending World War I. (The IR person in me was geeking out a bit).

At 12:30 pm, our tour of the palace drew the a closed, but not without a hitch.

For some reason, the route was linear, which meant we cannot go back where we started. We had no means of contacting Papa to ask him to exit. We even had to knock at the for-staff-only doors, to request if the staff could open it for us. She flatly said no.

We had no choice but to go back to the entrance again, where Ikle and I had to explain to the staff that we left Papa inside “près la station de guide audio et il n’a pas de connexion Internet“.

Good thing she allowed us. Then we quickly dragged Papa out of that area.LOL It was already 1:00 pm by that time.

For lunch, we saw that there was La Girandole in the map. Given it was still around lunch time, Mon and I decided that we’d just go there ourselves to buy food, while they wait at the steps behind the Galeries des Batailles.

There was already a long line, but fortunately there were two cashiers open so it was much quicker. We bought an assortment of sandwiches and some soda, and we are our lunch overlooking the palace grounds.

After thought, Papa was expressed he’d just wait outside (again). Another entrance ticket wasted. LOL But since we were already outside, I told him that he could just wait at the café where he used the comfort earlier in the day. And to make his stay legitimate, I gave him some money for snacks. That was for his tambay rights.

Truth be told, I enjoyed the Gardens of Versailles more than the palace itself. It was so vast and full of objects of interests that we were completely overwhelmed were to go.

We also did not mind if there were a lot of visitors as the gardens are big enough. We particularly loved the tree lanes and the hedges, the latter of which Ikle and I had a lot of time making silly videos with the graduation march-like music playing in the background.

At around 3:30 pm, we finally had our afternoon coffee. We went back to La Girandole and the crowd was a bit lighter. Having bought our lunch earlier there for lunch meant we were very familiar with its two-lane cashiers for efficiency.

The queue was short, but there was a blond woman who was at the “fork” of the two lines, leaving around 2 meters from her to the front of the cashiers.

I asked her if she was to go left or right because it was supposedly 2 lines to begin with, as the singe line was starting to buildup behind her. She got defensive, and irritatedly replied that yes, she was about to and because I asked her, she could no longer decide.

My gosh, the entitlement of this woman. Major eyeroll.

I told her she should not be holding the line unnecessarily, and she would eventually have to choose anyway. And then she chose the right cashier, and then some people went to the left. There were 2 lines again after her indecision.

After our coffee, Ikle had to eventually run and go ahead of us. She was asked to sing in an event near Pont Marie, and she had to make sure she was able to practice with the pianist. We were to meet her later in the evening and watch her sing,

At around 4:30 pm, we decided to go back to Paris. I went to the café to pick up Papa, who had a used cup of coffee, a can of soda, and a plastic wrapper on the table. He really did his tambay rights good.

We then dropped by the gift shop, where we got several ref magnet souvenirs. I also got there the perfect Versailles-themed apron for my sister-in-law as souvenir. We have seen some at Les Halles, but those were both expensive and a bit boring. The one on Versailles was perfect.

We were running against time, and we walked leisurely back to Versailles Château-Rive-Gauche station. It was a very relaxed afternoon with the sun shining softly behind the clouds. And for once, Papa looked delighted to be walking in Versailles.

I was initially hesitant navigating which train to check. Good thing that Bonjour RATP was a life saver and we were traveling back to Paris in time. I also received a notification that the data on my Orange eSim was about to be used up, so I topped up with my card.

I needed an OTP for the transaction to push through, which meant I had to open my Globe network (which connected to the local network). I felt bad having to spend additional money for that roaming.LOL

We got back at rue Poissonnière at around 6:19 pm. Instead of immediately going to our AirBnB, we went straight to  Le Merci to eat dinner, but they were still not open until 6:30 pm. So we just went inside the AirBnB for a a couple of minutes to pee and freshen up before coming down again.

They were still not open at 6:30 pm when we got down, as they were still doing some last minute preparations for the dinner service. We just stood outside for around 3 minutes, before we were welcomed inside.

I would say that we grew fond of Le Merci as they have excellent choices and most of all, reasonably priced. Papa could eat there the entire time and he would not complain.

And speaking of eating there again, Mama mentioned that Papa could stay at the AirBnB instead of coming with us at the Louvre. (If the Versailles experience earlier in the day was indicative of anything, there was no point for Papa to join us at the Louvre).

As we won’t be back not until after lunch following Louvre, we just bought extra food for him from Le Merci. We was fine with that at all.

After dinner, we just opened the AirBnB door for Mama and Papa, while Mon and I immediately went on our way to Pont Marie for Ikle’s performance.

She was already there with a couple of friends she have from the trans community in Paris. She introduced us to them (and I could not honestly remember most of their names, except for those I often see in her Instagram posts).

She also introduced us to her pianist, Clément, who she had to quickly practice only earlier, thus she had to leave us at Versailles.

We were just chatting about our trip, how Ikle and I were friends, as well as him being from Bretagne, and surprised of our age (he thought we were just in our 20s, bless him).

As it was taking a long time for the performance to start, we stepped out a bit, and chatted some more to some of Ikle’s friends. One of her friends loved that I was carrying a Balenciaga (Oh, un sac pour les femmes! Formidable!), and I complimented her Chanel.

And then the performance started. To say that I was blown away was an understatement. I knew her since we were teenagers, and she was very much into performing ever since.

I had been seeing some of her videos whenever she has some new songs (which she has composed herself), and it was clear to me that it was what makes her happy.

I also realized while she was singing that she’d likely stay in France for good, as France fit her better.

Although that made me sad a bit, I also thought that at least I have a very close friend I could visit in Paris at least once a year (that is if the budget permits).

That cheered me up a bit.

At around 10:30 pm, the performance was done. We just stayed outside a bit to chat, before finally deciding to call it a day.

From Pont Marie, Mon and I took the train back to Bonne Nouvelle, while Ikle went her way to the 16th arrondissement.

It had been a long day going to Versailles. But the best spectacle I have seen for that day was seeing Ikle finally perform in person.

That was one of the highlights of Paris for me.

Steps: 26,163