The Secret to Versailles

We're staying in the 11th arrondissment above a shoe shop.

Our little apt is at the back of the building so we're sheltered from the street noise. Just down the way is the Bastille.

Yesterday was Versailles day. It has been very hot in Paris - above +30 every day. Just by chance, as I was booking our tickets on line, to get into the Palace, I noticed that there was an English language tour of the Kings' apartments. Ngila enjoys guided tours, so I booked us in. We got to the Palace at 10am and already the wait time for the entrance was 2 hours.

BUT, because we had booked a guided tour, we walked passed the snaking line, into the visitor centre and waited in a comfortable salon for our tour to start. Best 7 euros we've spent.

So that's the secret we're passing on to you. Book a guided tour - never mind the language! - and avoid the horrific line up. By the time we left, at 2pm, the line up for the security check point, before you get into the line up to get in, was an hour. So our other secret - get there early.

The tour was lead by a knowledgable guide who explained the different styles of the 3 Louis who lived here - X1V, XV, and XV1.

Louis X1V was very showy.

Louis XV less so.

Louis XV1 was plain.

We also got to see the lovely opera house.

The reason we had to come on a Sunday was because we had tickets for the horse show at the Royal Stables.

The only afternoon performance is Sunday. First we saw all the royal carriages and sleighs.

Then a wonderful dressage show that included fencing displays, right up Ngila's alley. We couldn't take any pictures. However, Ngila could meet the horses and riders afterwards.

We cooled off

and headed home.

It was a full day of memories.